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THE  THOUGHTS 

OF 

BLAISE  PASCAL 


THE  THOUGHTS  OF 


BLAISE  PASCAL 


TRANSLATED  FROM  THE  TEXT  OF 

M.  AUGUSTE  MO  TINIER 


BY 

C.  KEGAN  PAUL 


Pendent  opera  interrnpta 


NEW  YORK 

THOMAS  WHITTAKER 
2  &  3 


BIBLE  HOUSE 


£43^4 
0PE  P 
182? 


I 


CONTENTS . 


\  Preface . 

|  General  Introduction 

Pascal’s  Profession  of  Faith  . 

Notes  for  the  General  Introduction 

'' The  Misery  of  Man  without  God 
Preface  to  the  First  Part 
Man’s  Disproportion  . 

Diversion  .  .  .  . 

The  Greatness  and  Littleness  of  Man 
Of  the  Deceptive  Powers  of  the  Imagination 
Of  Justice,  Customs,  and  Prejudices 
The  Weakness,  Unrest,  and  Defects  of  Man 

"he  Happiness  of  Man  with  God 
Preface  to  the  Second  Part  . 

Of  the  Need  of  Seeking  Truth 
The  Philosophers  .... 
Thoughts  on  Mahomet  and  on  China  . 

Of  the  Jewish  People  .... 

The  Authenticity  of  the  Sacred  Books  . 

The  Prophecies  ..... 

Of  Types  in  General  and  of  their  Lawfulness 
That  the  Jewish  Law  was  Figurative  . 

Of  the  True  Religion  and  its  Characteristics 
The  Excellence  of  the  Christian  Religion 
Of  Original  Sin  ..... 

The  Perpetuity  of  the  Christian  Religion 
Proofs  of  the  Christian  Religion  . 


Tage 

vii 


II 

15 

17 

19 

33 

43 

5i 

61 

73 

89 

9i 

95 

105 

115 

119 

125 

131 

157 

167 

179 

183 

191 

197 

203 


VI 


CONTENTS. 


The  Happiness  o-f  Man  with  God  [continued).  Page 

Proofs  of  the  Divinity  of  Jesus  Christ . 213 

The  Mission  and  Greatness  of  Jesus  Christ  ....  225 

The  Mystery  of  Jesus . 231 

Of  the  True  Righteous  Man  and  of  the  True  Christian  .  .  237 

The  Arrangement  ........  253 

Of  Miracles  in  General  .......  257 

Jesuits  and  Jansenists  . . 2 73 

Thoughts  on  Style  .  301 

Various  Thoughts  .  307 

Notes . 317 

% 

Index . 339 


PREFA  CE. 


Those  to  whom  the  Life  of  Pascal  and  the  Story  of  Port  Roya. 
are  unknown,  must  be  referred  to  works  treating  fully  of  the 
subject,  since  it  were  impossible  to  deal  with  them  adequately 
within  the  limits  of  a  preface.  Sainte-Beuve’s  great  work  on 
Port  Royal,  especially  the  second  and  third  volumes,  and  “Port 
Royal,”  by  Charles  Beard,  B.A.,  London,  1863,  may  best  be 
consulted  by  any  who  require  full,  lucid,  and  singularly  im¬ 
partial  information. 

But  for  such  as,  already  acquainted  with  the  time  and  the 
man,  need  a  recapitulation  of  the  more  important  facts,  or  for 
those  who  may  find  an  outline  map  useful  of  the  country  they 
are  to  study  in  detail,  a  few  words  are  here  given. 

Blaise  Pascal  was  born  at  Clermont-Ferrand  in  Auvergne, 
on  June  19,  1623.  He  sprung  from  a  well-known  legal  family, 
many  members  of  which  had  held  lucrative  and  responsible 
positions.  His  father,  Etienne  Pascal,  held  the  post  of  inten- 
dant,  or  provincial  administrator,  in  Normandy,  where,  and  at 
Paris  previously,  Pascal  lived  from  the  age  of  sixteen  to  that  of 
twenty-five  ;  almost  wholly  educated  by  his  father  on  account  of 
his  precarious  health.  His  mother  died  when  he  was  eight  years 
old.  Etienne  Pascal  was  a  pious  but  stern  person,  and  by  no 
means  disposed  to  entertain  or  allow  any  undue  exaltation  in 
religion,  refusing  as  long  as  he  lived  to  allow  his  daughter 
Jaqueline  to  take  the  veil.  But  he  had  the  usual  faiths  and 
superstitions  of  his  time,  and  believing  that  his  son’s  ill-health 
arose  from  witchcraft,  employed  the  old  woman  who  was  sup¬ 
posed  to  have  caused  the  malady  to  remove  it,  by  herbs  culled 
before  sunrise,  and  the  expiatory  death  of  a  cat.  This  made  a 
great  impression  on  his  son,  who  in  the  “  Thoughts  ”  employs  an 


Vlll 


PREFACE. 


ingenious  argument  to  prove  that  wonders  wrought  by  the  in¬ 
vocation  of  the  devil  are  not,  in  the  proper  sense  of  the  term, 
miracles.  At  any  rate  the  counter-charm  was  incomplete,  as  the 
child’s  feeble  health  remained  feeble  to  the  end. 

Intellectually,  Blaise  Pascal  grew  rapidly  to  the  stature  and 
strength  of  a  giant  ;  his  genius  showing  itself  mainly  in  the 
direction  of  mathematics  ;  at  the  age  of  fifteen  his  studies  on 
conic  sections  were  thought  worthy  to  be  read  before  the  most 
scientific  men  of  Paris,  and  in  after  years  of  agonizing  pain 
mathematical  research  alone  was  able  to  calm  him,  and  distract 
his  mind  from  himself.  His  actual  reading  was  at  all  times 
narrow,  and  his  scholarship  was  not  profound.  In  1646,  his 
father,  having  broken  his  thigh  at  Rouen,  came  under  the  in¬ 
fluence  of  two  members  of  the  Jansenist  school  of  thought  at 
that  place,  who  attended  him  in  his  illness,  and  from  that  time 
dated  the  more  serious  religious  views  of  the  family.  Jaqueline 
was  from  the  first  deeply  affected  by  the  more  rigorous  opinions 
with  which  she  came  in  contact.  Forbidden  to  enter  the 
cloister,  she  lived  at  home  as  austere  a  life  as  though  she  had 
been  professed,  but  after  her  father’s  death  won  her  brother’s 
reluctant  consent  to  take  the  veil  at  Port  Royal,  and  became 
one  of  the  strictest  nuns  of  that  rigid  rule. 

Blaise  Pascal  went  through  a  double  process  of  conversion. 
When  the  family  first  fell  under  Jansenist  influence  he  threw 
himself  so  earnestly  into  the  study  of  theology  that  he  seriously 
injured  his  frail  health,  and  being  advised  to  refrain  from  all 
intellectual  labour,  he  returned  to  the  world  of  Paris,  where  his 
friends  the  Due  de  Roannez,  the  Chevalier  de  Mere  and 
M.  Miton  were  among  the  best  known  and  most  fashionable 
persons.  His  father’s  death  put  him  in  possession  of  a  fair 
fortune,  which  he  used  freely,  not  at  all  viciously,  but  with  no 
renunciation  of  the  pleasures  of  society.  There  is  some  evidence 
of  a  proposal  that  he  should  marry  the  Due  de  Roannez’  sister, 
and  no  doubt  with  such  a  scheme  before  him  he  wrote  his  cele¬ 
brated  “  Discours  sur  les  Passions  de  1’ Amour.”  This,  however, 
resulted  only  in  the  conversion  of  the  duke  and  his  sister,  the 
latter  of  whom  for  a  time,  the  former  for  the  whole  of  his  life, 
remained  subject  to  the  religious  feelings  then  excited. 


PREFACE. 


In  the  autumn  of  1654,  whether  after  deliverance  in  a  dan¬ 
gerous  accident,  or  from  some  hidden  cause  of  which  nothing 
can  now  be  even  surmised,  there  came  a  second  sudden  conver¬ 
sion  from  which  there  was  no  return.  That  hour  wrought  a 
complete  change  in  Pascal’s  life  ;  austerity,  self-denial,  absolute 
obedience  to  his  spiritual  director,  boundless  alms-giving  suc¬ 
ceeded  to  what  at  most  had  been  a  moderate  and  restrained  use 
of  worldly  pleasure,  and  he  threw  himself  into  the  life,  contro¬ 
versy  and  interests  of  Port  Royal,  with  all  the  passion  of  one 
who  was  not  only  a  new  convert,  but  the  champion  of  a  society 
into  which  those  dearest  to  him  had  entered  even  more  fully 
than  he.  He  became,  for  a  time,  one  of  the  solitaries  of  Port 
Royal  before  the  close  of  that  same  year. 

The  Cistercian  Abbey  of  Port  Royal  des  Champs  was  situated 
about  eighteen  miles  from  Paris.  It  had  been  founded  early  in 
the  thirteenth  century,  and  would  have  faded  away  unremem¬ 
bered  but  for  the  grandeur  of  its  closing  years.  The  rule  of  the 
community  had  been  greatly  relaxed,  but  it  w*as  reformed  with 
extreme  rigour  by  Jaqueline  Arnauld,  its  young  abbess,  known 
in  religion  as  La  Mere  Angelique.  The  priest  chosen  as  Direc¬ 
tor  of  the  community  was  Jean  du  Vergier  de  Hauranne,  Abbe 
de  St.  Cyran,  a  close  friend  of  Cornelius  Jansen,  Bishop  of 
Ypres.  They  had  together  devoted  themselves  to  the  study  of 
Saint  Augustine ;  and  the  “Augustinus,”  the  work  to  which  Jansen 
gave  his  whole  life,  was  planned  with  the  assistance  of  St. 
Cyran.  Certain  propositions  drawn  from  this  work  were  after¬ 
wards  condemned,  and  the  controversy  which  raged  between  the 
two  schools  of  the  Jesuits  and  the  Jansenists  divided  itself  into 
two  parts,  first,  whether  the  propositions  were  heretical,  and 
secondly,  whether  as  a  fact  they  were  contained  in,  or  could 
fairly  be  deduced  from,  Jansen’s  book.  The  strife,  which  raged 
with  varying  fortunes  for  many  years,  need  not  here  detain  us. 

After  the  reform  of  Port  Royal,  and  when  the  Society,  how¬ 
ever  assailed  and  in  danger,  was  at  the  height  of  its  renown,  the 
whole  establishment  consisted  of  two  convents,  the  mother  house 
of  Port  Royal  des  Champs,  and  one  in  Paris  to  which  was  at¬ 
tached  a  school  for  girls.  To  Port  Royal  des  Champs,  as  to  a 
spiritual  centre,  and  to  be  under  the  guidance  of  the  three  great 


X 


PREFACE. 


directors,  who  in  succession  ruled  the  abbey,  M.  de  St.  Cyran, 
M.  Singlin,  and  M.  de  Saci,  there  came  men  and  women,  not 
under  monastic  vows,  but  living  for  a  time  the  monastic  or  even 
the  eremitical  life.  The  women,  for  the  most  part,  had  rooms 
in  the  convent,  the  men  built  rooms  for  themselves  hard  by,  or 
shared  between  them  La  Grange,  a  farm  belonging  to  the  abbey. 
It  need  scarcely  be  said  that  in  so  strict  a  community  the  sexes 
were  wholly  separate ;  a  common  worship,  and  the  confidence  of 
the  same  confessor,  together  with  similarity  of  views  in  religion, 
were  the  ties  which  bound  together  the  whole  society. 

When  Pascal  formally  joined  Port  Royal,  the  Abbey  and  all 
that  was  attached  to  it  greatly  needed  aid  from  without.  A 
Bull  in  condemnation  of  Jansen  had  been  gained  from  the  Pope, 
and  a  Formulary,  minimising  its  effect  as  far  as  possible,  was 
drawn  up  by  the  General  Assembly  in  France,  which  was  ulti¬ 
mately  accepted  by  Port  Royal  itself.  But  if  the  Port  Royalists 
minimized  the  defeat,  and,  with  great  intellectual  dexterity, 
showed  that  the  condemned  propositions  were  not  in  precise 
terms  what  they  had  held,  and  were  not  in  Jansen’s  book,  their 
adversaries  exaggerated  the  victory.  A  confessor  in  Paris  re¬ 
fused  absolution  to  a  parishioner  because  he  had  a  Jansenist 
living  in  his  house,  and  had  sent  his  grand-daughter  to  schoo.. 
at  Port  Royal.  Antoine  Arnauld,  known  ar  Le  Grand  Arnauld, 
brother  of  La  Mere  Ang^lique,  himself  in  danger  of  condemna¬ 
tion  by  the  Sorbonne,  drew  up  a  statement  of  the  case  intended  to 
instruct  the  public  on  the  points  in  dispute.  On  reading  this  to 
the  Port  Royal  solitaries  before  printing  it,  he  saw  that  it  would 
not  do,  and  turning  to  Pascal,  who  had  then  been  a  year  under 
M.  Singlin’s  direction,  he  suggested  to  him  as  a  younger  man 
with  a  lighter  pen  to  see  what  he  could  do.  The  next  day 
Pascal  produced  the  first  of  the  “  Provincial  Letters,”  or  to  give 
it  the  correct  title,  “  A  Letter  written  to  a  Provincial  by  one  of 
his  friends.”  In  these  Letters  Pascal  formed  his  true  style,  and 
took  rank  at  once  among  the  great  French  writers.  They  con¬ 
tributed  largely  to  turn  the  scale  of  feeling  against  his  adver¬ 
saries  ;  they,  and  an  occurrence  in  which  he  saw  the  visible 
finger  of  God,  saved  Port  Royal  for  a  time.  But  the  history  of 
the  “Provincial  Letters”  must  be  read  elsewhere,  as  must  also  in 


PREFACE. 


XI 


its  fulness  the  miracle  of  the  Holy  Thorn,  on  which  a  few  words 
are  needed. 

The  “  Provincial  Letters  ”  were  in  course  of  publication,  but 
M.  Arnauld  had  been  condemned  by  the  Sorbonne  just  as  the 
first  was  issued,  and  his  enemies  said  he  was  excommunicated, 
which  was  not  technically  true  ;  he  was  in  danger  of  arrest,  and 
was  in  hiding ;  the  solitaries  of  Port  Royal  were  almost  all  dis¬ 
persed  ;  the  schools  were  thinned  of  their  pupils  and  on  the 
, point  of  closing,  the  confessors  were  about  to  be  withdrawn 
and  the  nuns  sent  to  various  other  convents,  when  the  miracle 
took  place.  Marguerite  Perier,  a  child  of  ten  years  old,  daughter 
of  Pascal’s  elder  sister,  was  one  of  the  pupils  at  Port  Royal  in 
Paris,  not  as  yet  dismissed  to  her  home.  She  was  tenderly  nursed 
by  the  nuns  for  an  ulcer  in  the  lachrymal  gland,  which  had 
destroyed  the  bones  of  the  nose,  and  produced  other  horrors  of 
which  there  is  no  need  to  speak.  A  relic  of  the  Saviour,  one  of  the 
thorns  of  his  crown  of  mockery,  which  had  been  intrusted  to  the 
nuns,  was  specially  venerated  during  a  service  in  its  honour,  and 
as  it  would  seem  was  passed  from  hand  to  hand  in  its  reliquary. 
When  the  turn  of  the  scholars  came,  Sister  Flavia,  their  mistress, 
moved  by  a  sudden  impulse  said,  “  My  child,  pray  for  your  eye,” 
and  touched  the  ulcer  with  the  reliquary.  The  child  was  cured, 
and  the  effect  on  the  community  was  immediate.  The  remain¬ 
ing  solitaries  were  not  dispersed,  some  of  those  who  had  gone 
returned,  the  confessors  were  not  removed,  the  school  was  not 
closed,  and  Port  Royal  was  respited. 

The  miracle  was  to  Pascal  at  once  a  solemn  matter  of  religion 
acid  a  family  occurrence  ;  he  took  henceforward  as  his  cogni¬ 
zance  an  eye  encircled  with  a  crown  of  thorns  and  the  motto 
Scio  cui  credidi ,  he  jotted  down  various  thoughts  on  the 
miracle,  and  the  manner  in  which  as  it  seemed  to  him  God  had 
by  it  given  as  by  “  a  voice  of  thunder  ”  his  judgment  in  favour  of 
Port  Royal,  and  he  sketched  a  plan  of  a  work  against  atheists 
and  unbelievers.  In  the  year  between  the  spring  of  1657,  and 
that  of  1658,  the  last  year  of  his  good  health,  if  that  can  be 
called  good  which  was  at  best  but  feeble,  he  indicated  the  plan, 
and  wrote  the  most  finished  paragraphs  of  his  intended  work. 
The  detached  thoughts  which  make  up  the  bulk  of  it  were 


xn 


PREFACE. 


scribbled,  as  they  occurred  to  him  during  the  last  four  years  of 
his  life,  on  scraps  of  paper,  or  on  the  margin  of  what  he  had 
already  written,  often  when  he  was  quite  incapable  of  sustained 
employment.  Many  were  dictated,  some  to  friends,  and  some 
to  a  servant  who  constantly  attended  him  in  his  illness. 

Towards  the  end  of  his  life  he  was  obliged  to  move  into  Paris 
again,  where  he  was  carefully  nursed  by  his  sister  Madame 
Perier,  to  whose  house  he  was  moved  at  the  last,  where  he 
died  on  August  9th,  1662,  at  the  age  of  thirty-nine,  having  spent 
his  last  years  in  an  ecstasy  of  self-denial,  of  charity,  and  of 
aspiration  after  God. 

Not  for  six  years  after  his  death  were  his  family  and  friends 
able  to  consider  in  what  form  his  unfinished  work  should  be 
given  to  the  world.  Then  Port  Royal  had  a  breathing  space, 
what  was  known  as  the  Peace  of  the  Church  was  established  by 
Clement  IX.,  and  it  was  considered  that  the  time  had  come  to 
set  in  order  these  precious  fragments.  The  duty  of  giving  an 
author’s  works  to  the  world  as  he  left  them  was  little  under¬ 
stood  in  those  days,  and  the  Due  de  Roannez  even  suggested 
that  Pascal’s  whole  work  should  be  re-written  on  the  lines  he 
had  laid  down.  Some  editing  was,  on  all  hands,  allowed  to  be 
needful ;  thus  the  arrangement  of  chapters,  and  the  fragments 
to  be  included  in  chapters,  were  matter  for  fair  discussion.  But 
the  committee  of  editors  went  further,  and  even  when  the  text 
had  been  settled  by  them,  it  had  to  undergo  a  further  censorship 
by  various  theologians.  Finally,  in  January,  1670,  the  “  Pensdes  ” 
appeared  as  a  small  duodecimo,  with  a  preface  by  the  Perier 
family,  and  no  mention  of  Port  Royal  in  the  volume. 

For  a  full  account  of  this  and  other  editions,  the  reader  must 
be  referred  to  the  preface  to  M.  Molinier’s  edition,  Paris,  1S77- 
1879,  and  to  that  of  M.  Faugere,  Paris,  1844. 

M.  Victor  Cousin  was  the  first  to  draw  attention  to  the  need 
of  a  new  edition  of  Pascal  in  1842.  He  showed  that  great 
liberties  had  been  taken  with  and  suppressions  made  in  the 
text,  and  the  labour  to  which  he  invited  was  first  undertaken  by 
M.  Prosper  Faugere.  M.  Havet  adopting  his  text  departed 
from  his  arrangement,  reverted  in  great  measure  to  that  of  the 


PREFACE. 


xm 


old  editors,  and  accompanied  the  whole  by  an  excellent  com¬ 
mentary  and  notes,  2nd  edition,  Paris,  1866.  M.  Molinier  has 
again  consulted  the  MSS.  word  for  word,  and  while  in  a  degree 
following  M.  Faugere’s  arrangement  has  yet  been  guided  by  his 
own  skill  and  judgment.  It  must  always  be  remembered  that 
each  editor  must  necessarily  follow  his  own  judgment  in  regard 
to  the  position  he  should  give  to  fragments  not  placed  by  the 
writer.  But  provided  that  an  editor  makes  no  changes  merely 
for  the  sake  of  change  and  that  he  loyally  enters  into  the  spirit  of 
his  predecessors,  each  new  comer,  till  the  arrangement  is  finally 
fixed,  has  a  great  advantage.  Such  an  editor  is  M.  Molinier, 
and  in  his  arrangement  the  text  of  Pascal  would  seem  to  be 
mainly  if  not  wholly  fixed ;  so  that  for  the  first  time  we  have 
not  only  Pascal’s  “  Thoughts,”  but  we  have  them  approximately 
arranged  as  he  designed  to  present  them  to  his  readers. 

The  course  of  an  English  translator  is  clear  ;  his  responsibi¬ 
lity  is  confined  to  deciding  which  text  to  follow,  he  has  no  right 
to  make  one  for  himself.  In  the  present  edition,  therefore, 
M.  Molinier’s  text  and  arrangement  are  scrupulously  followed 
except  in  two  places.  In  regard  to  one,  M.  Molinier  has  him¬ 
self  adopted  a  different  reading  in  his  notes  made  after  the  text 
was  printed,  the  second  is  an  obvious  misprint.  Pascal’s  “  Pro¬ 
fession  of  Faith,”  or  “Amulet,”  is  transferred  from  the  place  it 
occupies  in  M.  Molinier’s  edition  to  serve  as  an  introduction  to 
the  work,  striking  as  it  does  the  key-note  to  the  “  Thoughts.” 

Pascal’s  quotations  from  the  Bible  were  made  of  course  from 
the  Vulgate,  but  very  often  indeed  from  memory,  and  incorrectly, 
while  he  often  gave  the  substance  alone  of  the  passage  he  used. 
No  one  version  of  the  Bible  therefore  has  been  used  exclusively, 
but  the  Authorised  Version  and  the  Douai  or  Rheims  versions 
have  been  used  as  each  in  turn  most  nearly  afforded  the  equiva¬ 
lent  of  the  quotations  made  by  Pascal. 

The  notes  are  mainly  based  on  those  of  MM.  Faugere,  Havet, 
and  Molinier. 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION. 


X 


PASCAL’S  PROFESSION  OF  FAITH. 


f 

This  year  of  Grace  1654, 

Monday,  November  23r.?,  day  of  Saint  Clement,  pope 
and  martyr,  and  others  in  the  martyrology, 

Eve  of  Saint  Chrysogonus,  martyr,  and  others; 

From  about  half  past  ten  at  night,  to 
about  half  after  midnight, 

Fire. 

God  of  Abraham,  God  of  Isaac,  God  of  Jacob, 

Not  of  the  philosophers  and  the  wise. 

Security,  security.  Feeling,  joy,  peace. 

God  of  Jesus  Christ 
Deum  meum  et  Deum  vestnim. 

Thy  God  shall  be  my  God. 

Forgetfulness  of  the  world  and  of  all  save  God; 

He  can  be  found  only  in  the  ways  taught 
.  in  the  Gospel. 

Greatness  of  the  human  soul. 

O  righteous  Father,  the  world  hath  not  known  thee, 
but  I  have  known  thee. 

Joy,  j°y»  joy, tears  of  joy. 

I  have  separated  myself  from  him. 

Dereliquerunt  nie  fontem  aquce  vivce. 

My  God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me  ?  .  .  . 

That  I  be  not  separated  from  thee  eternally. 

This  is  life  eternal :  That  they  might  know  thee 
the  only  true  God,  and  him  whom  thou  hast  sent,  Jesus  Christ, 

Jesus  Christ, 

Jesus  Christ. 

I  have  separated  myself  from  him  ;  I  have  fled,  renounced,  crucified  him. 
May  I  never  be  separated  from  him. 

He  maintains  himself  in  me  only  in  the  ways  taught 
in  the  Gospel. 

Renunciation  total  and  sweet. 


etc. 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION. 


Let  them  at  least  learn  what  is  the  Religion  they  assail, 
before  they  assail  it.  If  this  religion  claimed  to  have  a  clear 
view  of  God,  and  to  possess  it  openly  and  unveiled,  then  to  say 
that  we  see  nothing  in  the  world  which  manifests  him  with  this 
clearness  would  be  to  assail  it.  But  since  on  the  contrary  it 
affirms  that  men  are  in  darkness  and  estranged  from  God,  that 
he  has  hidden  himself  from  their  knowledge,  that  the  very 
name  he  has  given  himself  in  the  Scriptures  is  Dens  absconditns ; 
and  if  indeed  it  aims  equally  at  establishing  these  two  points, 
that  God  has  set  in  the  Church  evident  notes  to  enable  those 
who  seek  him  in  sincerity  to  recognise  him,  and  that  he  has 
nevertheless  so  concealed  them  that  he  can  only  be  perceived  by 
those  who  seek  him  with  their  whole  hearts  ;  what  advantages 
it  them,  when,  in  their  professed  neglect  of  the  search  after  truth, 
they  declare  that  nothing  reveals  it  to  them?  For  the  very 
obscurity  in  which  they  are,  and  for  which  they  blame  th.c 
Church,  does  but  establish  one  of  the  points  which  she  rAhin- 
tains,  without  affecting  the  other,  and  far  from  destroying, 
establishes  her  doctrine. 

In  order  to  assail  it  they  ought  to  urge  that  they  have  sought 
everywhere  with  all  their  strength,  and  even  in  that  which 
the  Church  proposes  for  their  instruction,  but  without  avail. 
Did  they  thus  speak,  they  would  indeed  assail  one  of  her  claims. 
But  I  hope  here  to  show  that  no  rational  person  can  thus  speak, 
and  I  am  even  bold  to  say  that  no  one  has  ever  done  so.  We 
know  v/ell  enough  how  men  of  this  temper  behave.  They  believe 
they  have  made  great  efforts  for  their  instruction,  when  they  have 


4 


GENERAL  EVER  OD  UCTION 


spent  a  few  hours  in  reading  some  book  of  Scripture,  and  have 
talked  with  some  Ecclesiastic  on  the  truths  of  the  faith.  Where¬ 
upon  they  boast  that  they  have  in  vain  consulted  books  and  men. 
But  indeed  I  will  tell  them  what  I  have  often  said,  that  such 
avrelessness  is  intolerable.  We  are  not  here  dealing  with  the 
light  interest  of  a  stranger,  that  we  should  thus  treat  it ;  but 
vrith  that  which  concerns  ourselves  and  our  all. 

The  immortality  of  the  soul  is  a  matter  of  so  great  moment 
to  us,  it  touches  us  so  deeply,  that  we  must  have  lost  all  feeling 
if  we  are  careless  of  the  truth  about  it.  Our  every  action  and 
our  every  thought  must  take  such  different  courses,  according  as 
there  are  or  are  not  eternal  blessings  for  which  to  hope,  that  it  is 
impossible  to  take  a  single  step  with  sense  or  judgment,  save 
in  view  of  that  point  which  ought  to  be  our  end  and  aim. 

Thus  our  first  interest  and  our  first  duty  is  to  gain  light  on 
this  subject,  whereon  our  whole  conduct  depends.  Therefore 
acnong  unbelievers,  I  make  a  vast  difference  between  those  who 
labour  with  all  their  power  to  gain  instruction,  and  those  who 
live  without  taking  trouble  or  thought  for  it. 

I  can  have  nothing  but  compassion  for  all  who  sincerely 
lament  their  doubt,  who  look  upon  it  as  the  worst  of  evils,  and 
who,  sparing  no  pains  to  escape  it,  find  in  that  endeavour  their 
principal  and  most  serious  occupation. 

But  as  for  those  who  pass  their  life  without  thought  of  the 
ultimate  goal  of  life,  who,  solely  because  they  do  not  find 
within  themselves  the  light  of  conviction,  neglect  to  seek  it 
elsewhere  and  to  examine  thoroughly  whether  the  opinion  in 
question  be  among  those  which  are  popularly  received  with 
credulous  simplicity,  or  among  those  which,  although  in  them¬ 
selves  obscure,  have  yet  a  solid  and  indestructible  basis, — of 
those,  I  say,  my  thoughts  are  very  different. 

This  neglect  of  a  matter  in  which  themselves  are  concerned, 
their  eternity,  and  their  all,  makes  me  angry  rather  than  compas¬ 
sionate;  it  astonishes  and  terrifies  me,  it  is  to  me  something 
monstrous.  I  do  not  say  this  out  of  the  pious  zeal  of  a  spiritual 
devotion.  I  mean  on  the  contrary  that  such  a  feeling  should  spring 
from  principles  of  human  interest  and  self-love  ;  and  for  this  we 
need  see  no  more  than  what  is  seen  by  the  least  enlightened  persons. 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION. 


5 


We  need  no  great  elevation  of  soul  to  understand  that  here 
is  no  true  and  solid  satisfaction,  that  all  our  pleasures  are 
but  vanity,  our  evils  infinite,  and  lastly  that  death,  which 
threatens  us  every  moment,  must  infallibly  and  within  a  few 
years  place  us  in  the  dread  alternative  of  being  for  ever  either 
annihilated  or  wretched. 

Nothing  is  more  real  than  this,  nothing  more  terrible.  Brave 
it  out  as  we  may,  that  is  yet  the  end  which  awaits  the  fairest 
life  in  the  world.  Let  us  reflect  on  this,  and  then  say  if  it  be  not 
certain  that  there  is  no  good  in  this  life  save  in  the  hope  of 
another,  that  we  are  happy  only  in  proportion  as  we  approach  it, 
and  that  as  there  is  no  more  sorrow  for  those  who  have  an  entire 
assurance  of  eternity,  so  there  is  no  happiness  for  those  who 
have  not  a  ray  of  its  light. 

Assuredly  then  it  is  a  great  evil  thus  to  be  in  doubt,  but  it  is  at 
least  an  indispensable  duty  to  seek  when  we  are  in  such  doubt  ; 
he  therefore  who  doubts  and  yet  seeks  not  is  at  once  thoroughly 
unhappy  and  thoroughly  unfair.  And  if  at  the  same  time  he  be 
easy  and  content,  profess  to  be  so,  and  in  fact  pride  himself 
thereon  ;  if  even  it  be  this  very  condition  of  doubt  which  forms 
the  subject  of  his  joy  and  boasting,  I  have  no  terms  in  which 
to  describe  a  creature  so  extravagant. 

Whence  come  such  feelings  ?  What  delight  can  we  find  in 
the  expectation  of  nothing  but  unavailing  misery  ?  What  cause  of 
boasting  that  we  are  in  impenetrable  darkness  ?  How  can  such 
an  argument  as  the  following  occur  to  a  reasoning  man  ? 

“  I  know  not  who  has  sent  me  into  the  world,  nor  what  the  world 
is,  nor  what  I  myself  am  ;  I  am  terribly  ignorant  of  every  thing  ; 
I  know  not  what  my  body  is,  nor  my  senses,  nor  my  soul,  nor 
even  that  part  of  me  which  thinks  what  I  say,  which  reflects  on 
all  and  on  itself,  yet  is  as  ignorant  of  itself  as  of  all  beside.  I 
see  those  dreadful  spaces  of  the  universe  which  close  me  in,  and 
I  find  myself  fixed  in  one  corner  of  this  vast  expanse,  without 
knowing  why  I  am  set  in  this  place  rather  than  elsewhere,  nor 
why  this  moment  of  time  given  me  for  life  is  assigned  to  this 
point  rather  than  another  of  the  whole  Eternity  which  was  before 
me  or  which  shall  be  after  me.  I  see  nothing  but  infinities 
on  every  side,  which  close  me  round  as  an  atom,  and  as  a  shadow 


6 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION. 


which  endures  but  for  an  instant  and  returns  no  more.  I  know 
only  that  I  must  shortly  die,  but  what  I  know  the  least  is  this 
very  death  which  I  cannot  avoid. 

“  As  I  know  not  whence  I  come,  so  I  know  not  whither  I  go ; 
only  this  I  know,  that  on  departing  this  world,  I  shall  either  fall 
for  ever  into  nothingness,  or  into  the  hands  of  an  offended  God, 
without  knowing  which  of  these  two  conditions  shall  eternally  be 
my  lot.  Such  is  my  state,  full  of  weakness  and  uncertainty; 
from  all  which  I  conclude  that  I  ought  to  pass  all  the  days  of 
my  life  without  thought  of  searching  for  what  must  happen  to 
me.  Perhaps  I  might  find  some  ray  of  light  in  my  doubts,  but  I 
will  not  take  the  trouble,  nor  stir  a  foot  to  seek  it ;  and  after 
treating  with  scorn  those  who  are  troubled  with  this  care,  I  will 
go  without  foresight  and  without  fear  to  make  trial  of  the  grand 
event,  and  allow  myself  to  be  led  softly  on  to  death,  uncertain 
of  the  eternity  of  my  future  condition.” 

Who  would  wish  to  have  for  his  friend  a  man  who  should  thus 
speak  ;  who  would  choose  him  rather  than  another  for  advice  in 
business  ;  who  would  turn  to  him  in  sorrow  ?  And  indeed  to  what 
use  in  life  could  we  put  him  ? 

In  truth,  it  is  the  glory  of  Religion  to  have  for  enemies  men 
so  unreasoning,  whose  opposition  is  so  little  dangerous  to  her, 
that  it  the  rather  serves  to  establish  her  truths.  For  the 
Christian  faith  goes  mainly  to  the  establishment  of  these  two 
points,  the  corruption  of  nature,  and  the  Redemption  by  Jesus 
Christ.  Now  I  maintain  that  if  these  men  serve  not  to  demon¬ 
strate  the  truth  of  Redemption  by  the  holiness  of  their  morals, 
they  at  least  serve  admirably  to  show  the  corruption  of  nature 
by  sentiments  so  unnatural. 

Nothing  is  so  important  to  man  as  his  condition, nothing  so  for¬ 
midable  to  him  as  eternity  ;  and  thus  it  is  not  natural  there  should 
be  men  indifferent  to  the  loss  of  their  being,  and  to  the  peril  of 
an  endless  woe.  They  are  quite  other  men  in  regard  to  all 
else ;  they  fear  the  veriest  trifles,  they  foresee  them,  they  feel 
them  ;  and  the  very  man  who  spends  so  many  days  and  nights 
in  rage  and  despair  for  the  loss  of  office  or  for  some  imaginary 
insult  to  his  honour,  is  the  same  who,  without  disquiet  and  with¬ 
out  emotion,  knows  that  he  must  lose  all  by  death.  It  is  a  mon- 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION. 


7 


strous  thing  to  see  in  one  and  the  same  heart  and  at  the  same 
time  this  sensibility  to  the  meanest,  and  this  strange  insen¬ 
sibility  to  the  greatest  matters.  It  is  an  incomprehensible 
spell,  a  supernatural  drowsiness,  which  denotes  as  its  cause  an 
all  powerful  force. 

There  must  be  a  strange  revolution  in  the  nature  of  man, 
before  he  can  glory  at  being  in  a  state  to  which  it  seems  in¬ 
credible  that  any  should  attain.  Experience  however  has  shown 
me  a  large  number  of  such  men,  a  surprising  fact  did  we  not 
know  that  the  greater  part  of  those  who  meddle  with  the  matter 
are  not  as  a  fact  what  they  declare  themselves.  They  are 
people  who  have  been  told  that  the  manners  of  good  society 
consist  in  such  daring.  This  they  call  shaking  off  the  yoke,  this 
they  try  to  imitate.  Yet  it  would  not  be  difficult  to  convince  them 
how  much  they  deceive  themselves  in  thus  seeking  esteem.  Not 
so  is  it  acquired,  even  among  those  men  of  the  world  who  judge 
wisely,  and  who  know  that  the  only  way  of  worldly  success  is 
to  show  ourselves  honourable,  faithful,  of  sound  judgment,  and 
capable  of  useful  service  to  a  friend  ;  because  by  nature  men 
love  only  what  may  prove  useful  to  them.  Now  in  what  way  does 
it  advantage  us  to  hear  a  man  say  he  has  at  last  shaken  off  the 
yoke,  that  he  does  not  believe  there  is  a  God  who  watches  his 
actions,  that  he  considers  himself  the  sole  master  of  his  conduct 
and  accountable  for  it  only  to  himself.  Does  he  think  that  thus 
he  has  brought  us  to  have  henceforward  confidence  in  him,  and  to 
look  to  him  for  comfort,  counsel  and  succour  in  every  need  of  life  ? 
Do  they  think  to  delight  us  when  they  declare  that  they  hold 
our  soul  to  be  but  a  little  wind  or  smoke,  nay,  when  they  tell 
us  so  in  a  tone  of  proud  content  ?  Is  this  a  thing  to  assert 
gaily,  and  not  rather  to  say  sadly  as  the  saddest  thing  in  all 
the  world  ? 

Did  they  think  on  it  seriously,  they  would  see  that  this  is  so 
great  a  mistake,  so  contrary  to  good  sense,  so  opposed  to 
honourable  conduct,  so  remote  in  every  respect  from  that 
good  breeding  at  which  they  aim,  that  they  would  choose 
rather  to  restore  than  to  corrupt  those  who  might  have  any 
inclination  to  follow  them.  And  indeed  if  they  are  obliged  to 
give  an  account  of  their  opinions,  and  of  the  reasons  they  have 


8 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION. 


for  doubts  about  Religion,  they  will  say  things  so  weak  and  base, 
as  rather  to  persuade  the  contrary.  It  was  once  happily  said 
to  such  an  one,  “  If  you  continue  to  talk  thus  you  will  really  make 
me  a  Christian.”  And  the  speaker  was  right,  for  who  would  not 
be  horrified  at  entertaining  opinions  in  which  he  would  have 
such  despicable  persons  as  his  associates  ! 

Thus  those  who  only  feign  these  opinions  would  be  very 
unhappy  were  they  to  put  force  on  their  natural  disposition  in 
order  to  make  themselves  the  most  inconsequent  of  men.  If,  in 
their  inmost  hearts,  they  are  troubled  at  their  lack  of  light,  let  them 
not  dissemble  :  the  avowal  will  bring  no  shame ;  the  only  shame  is 
to  be  shameless.  Nothing  betrays  so  much  weakness  of  mind  as 
not  to  apprehend  the  misfortune  of  a  man  without  God,  nothing 
is  so  sure  a  token  of  an  evil  disposition  of  heart  as  not  to  desire 
the  truth  of  eternal  promises,  nothing  is  more  cowardly  than  to 
fight  against  God.  Let  them  therefore  leave  these  impieties  to 
persons  who  are  so  ill-bred  as  to  be  really  capable  of  them, 
let  them  at  least  be  men  of  honour  if  they  cannot  be  Chris¬ 
tians,  and  lastly,  let  them  recognise  that  there  are  but  two 
classes  of  men  who  can  be  called  reasonable  ;  those  who  serve 
God  with  their  whole  heart  because  they  know  him,  or  those  who 
seek  him  with  their  whole  heart  because  they  know  him  not. 

But  as  for  those  who  live  without  knowing  him  and  without 
seeking  him,  they  judge  themselves  to  deserve  their  own  care  so 
little,  that  they  are  not  worthy  the  care  of  others,  and  it  needs 
all  the  charity  of  the  Religion  they  despise,  not  to  despise 
them  so  utterly  as  to  abandon  them  to  their  madness.  But  since 
this  Religion  obliges  us  to  look  on  them,  while  they  are  in  this 
life,  as  always  capable  of  illuminating  grace,  and  to  believe  that 
in  a  short  while  they  may  be  more  full  of  faith  than  ourselves, 
while  we  on  the  other  hand  may  fall  into  the  blindness  which 
now  is  theirs,  we  ought  to  do  for  them  what  we  would  they  should 
do  for  us  were  we  in  their  place,  and  to  entreat  them  to  take  pity 
on  themselves  and  advance  at  least  a  few  steps,  if  perchance  they 
may  find  the  light.  Let  them  give  to  reading  these  words  a  few 
of  the  hours  which  otherwise  they  spend  so  unprofitably :  with 
whatever  aversion  they  set  about  it  they  may  perhaps  gain 
something ;  at  least  they  cannot  be  great  losers.  But  if  any  bring 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION. 


9 


to  the  task  perfect  sincerity  and  a  true  desire  to  meet  with  truth, 
I  despair  not  of  their  satisfaction,  nor  of  their  being  convinced  of 
so  divine  a  Religion  by  the  proofs  which  I  have  here  gathered 
up,  and  have  set  forth  in  somewhat  the  following  order  .  .  . 

Before  entering  upon  the  proofs  of  the  Christian  Religion,  I 
find  it  necessary  to  set  forth  the  unfairness  of  men  who  live  indiffe¬ 
rent  to  the  search  for  truth  in  a  matter  which  is  so  important  to 
them,  and  which  touches  them  so  nearly. 

Among  all  their  errors  this  doubtless  is  the  one  which  most 
proves  them  to  be  fools  and  blind,  and  in  which  it  is  most  easy 
to  confound  them  by  the  first  gleam  of  common  sense,  and  by  our 
natural  feelings. 

For  it  is  not  to  be  doubted  that  this  life  endures  but  for  an 
instant,  that  the  state  of  death  is  eternal,  whatever  may  be  its 
nature,  and  that  thus  all  our  actions  and  all  our  thoughts  must  take 
such  different  courses  according  to  the  state  of  that  eternity,  as  to 
render  it  impossible  to  take  a  single  step  with  sense  and  judgment, 
save  in  view  of  that  point  which  ought  to  be  our  end  and  aim. 

Nothing  is  more  clear  than  this,  and  therefore  by  all  principles 
of  reason  the  conduct  of  men  is  most  unreasonable  if  they  do 
not  alter  their  course.  Hence  we  may  judge  concerning  those 
who  live  without  thinking  of  the  ultimate  goal  of  life,  who 
allow  themselves  to  be  guided  by  their  inclinations  and  their  plea¬ 
sures  without  thought  or  disquiet,  and,  as  if  they  could  annihilate 
eternity  by  turning  their  minds  from  it,  consider  only  how  they 
may  make  themselves  happy  for  the  moment. 

Yet  this  eternity  exists  ;  and  death  the  gate  of  eternity,  which 
threatens  them  every  hour,  must  in  a  short  while  infallibly  reduce 
them  to  the  dread  necessity  of  being  through  eternity  either 
nothing  or  miserable,  without  knowing  which  of  these  eternities 
is  for  ever  prepared  for  them. 

This  is  a  doubt  which  has  terrible  consequences.  They 
are  in  danger  of  an  eternity  of  misery,  and  thereupon,  as  if  the 
matter  were  not  worth  the  trouble,  they  care  not  to  examine 
whether  this  is  one  of  those  opinions  which  men  in  general 
receive  with  a  too  credulous  facility,  or  among  those  which,  them¬ 
selves  obscure,  have  yet  a  solid  though  concealed  foundation. 
Thus  they  know  not  whether  the  matter  be  true  or  false,  nor  if 


10 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION 


the  proofs  be  strong  or  weak.  They  have  them  before  their 
eyes,  they  refuse  to  look  at  them,  and  in  that  ignorance  they 
choose  to  do  all  that  will  bring  them  into  this  misfortune  if  it 
exist,  to  wait  for  death  to  verify  it,  and  to  be  in  the  mean¬ 
time  thoroughly  satisfied  with  their  state,  openly  avowing  and 
even  making  boast  of  it.  Can  we  think  seriously  on  the  im¬ 
portance  of  this  matter  without  being  revolted  at  conduct  so 
extravagant  ? 

Such  rest  in  ignorance  is  a  monstrous  thing,  and  they  who 
live  in  it  ought  to  be  made  aware  of  its  extravagance  and 
stupidity,  by  having  it  revealed  to  them,  that  they  may  be  con¬ 
founded  by  the  sight  of  their  own  folly.  For  this  is  how  men 
reason  when  they  choose  to  live  ignorant  of  what  they  are  and 
do  not  seek  to  be  enlightened.  “  I  know  not,”  say  they  .  .  . 


NOTES 


FOR  THE  GENERAL  INTRODUCTION. 


To  doubt  is  then  a  misfortune,  but  to  seek  when  in  doubt  is  an  indis¬ 
pensable  duty.  So  he  who  doubts  and  seeks  not  is  at  once  unfortunate 
and  unfair.  If  at  the  same  time  lie  is  gay  and  presumptuous,  I  have 
no  terms  in  which  to  describe  a  creature  so  extravagant. 


A  fine  subject  of  rejoicing  and  boasting,  with  the  head  uplifted  in 
such  a  fashion  .  .  .  Therefore  let  us  rejoice  ;  I  see  not  the  conclusion, 
since  it  is  uncertain,  and  we  shall  then  see  what  will  become  of  us. 


Is  it  courage  in  a  dying  man  that  he  dare,  in  his  weakness  and  agony, 
face  an  almighty  and  eternal  God  ? 

Were  I  in  that  state  I  should  be  glad  if  any  one  would  pity  my  folly, 
and  would  have  the  goodness  to  deliver  me  in  despite  of  myself ! 


Yet  it  is  certain  that  man  has  so  fallen  from  nature  that  there  is  in  his 
heart  a  seed  of  joy  in  that  very  fact. 


A  man  in  a  dungeon,  -who  knows  not  whether  his  doom  is  fixed,  who 
has  but  one  hour  to  learn  it,  and  this  hour  enough,  should  he  know  that 
it  is  fixed,  to  obtain  its  repeal,  would  act  against  nature  did  he  employ 
that  hour,  not  in  learning  his  sentence,  but  in  playing  piquet. 

So  it  is  against  nature  that  man,  etc.  It  is  to  weight  the  hand  of 
God. 


12 


NOTES . 


Thus  not  the  zeal  alone  of  those  who  seek  him  proves  God,  but  the 
blindness  of  those  who  seek  him  not. 

We  run  carelessly  to  the  precipice  after  having  veiled  our  eyes  to 
hinder  us  from  seeing  it. 

Between  us  and  hell  or  heaven,  there  is  nought  but  life,  the  frailest 
thing  in  all  the  world. 

If  it  be  a  supernatural  blindness  to  live  without  seeking  to  know 
what  we  are,  it  is  a  terrible  blindness  to  live  ill  while  believing  in 
God. 

The  sensibility  of  man  to  trifles,  and  his  insensibility  to  great  things, 
is  the  mark  of  a  strange  inversion,  j 

This  shows  that  there  is  nothing  to  say  to  them,  not  that  we  despise 
them,  but  because  they  have  no  common  sense  :  God  must  touch  them. 

We  must  pity  both  parties,  but  for  the  one  we  must  feel  the  pity 
born  of  tenderness,  and  for  the  other  the  pity  born  of  contempt. 

We  must  indeed  be  of  that  religion  which  man  despises  that  we  may 
not  despise  men. 

People  of  that  kind  are  academicians  and  scholars,  and  that  is  the 
worst  kind  of  men  that  I  know. 

I  do  not  gather  that  by  system,  but  by  the  way  in  which  the  heart  of 
man  is  made. 

To  reproach  Miton,  that  he  is  not  troubled  when  God  will  reproach 
him. 

Is  this  a  thing  to  say  with  joy  ?  It  is  a  thing  we  ought  then  to  say 
with  sadness. 

Nothing  is  so  important  as  this,  yet  we  neglect  this  only. 

This  is  all  that  a  man  could  do  were  he  assured  of  the  falsehood  of 
that  news,  and  even  then  he  ought  not  to  be  joyful,  but  downcast. 


•  • 


Suppose  an  heir  finds  the  title-deeds  of  his  house.  Will  he  say. 


NOTES. 


13 


“  Perhaps  they  are  forgeries?  ”  and  neglect  to  examine  them? 

We  must  not  say  that  this  is  a  mark  of  reason. 

To  be  so  insensible  as  to  despise  interesting  things,  and  to  become 
insensible  to  the  point  which  most  interests  us. 

What  then  shall  we  conclude  of  all  these  obscurities,  if  not  our  own 
unworthiness  ? 


THE  MISERY  OF  MAN  WITHOUT  GOD 


OR 

THAT  NATURE  IS  NATURALLY  CORRUPT 


PREFACE  TO  THE  FIRST  PART. 


To  speak  of  those  who  have  treated  of  the  knowledge  of  self,  of 
the  divisions  of  Charron  which  sadden  and  weary  us,  of  the 
confusion  of  Mpntaigne  ;  that  he  was  aware  he  had  no  definite 
system,  and  tried  to  evade  the  difficulty  by  leaping  from  subject 
to  subject ;  that  he  sought  to  be  fashionable. 

His  foolish  project  of  self-description,  and  this  not  casually 
and  against  his  maxims,  since  everybody  may  make  mistakes, 
but  by  his  maxims  themselves,  and  by  his  main  and  principal 
design.  For  to  say  foolish  things  by  chance  and  weakness  is  an 
ordinary  evil,  but  to  say  them  designedly  is  unbearable,  and  to 
say  such  as  that  .  .  . 

Montaigne. — Montaigne’s  defects  are  great.  Lewd  expres¬ 
sions.  This  is  bad,  whatever  Mademoiselle  de  Gournay  may 
say.  He  is  credulous,  people  without  eyes;  ignorant,  squaring 
the  circle,  a  greater  world.  His  opinions  on  suicide  and  on 
death.  He  suggests  a  carelessness  about  salvation,  without  fear 
and  without  repentance.  Since  his  book  was  not  written  with  a 
religious  intent,  it  was  not  his  duty  to  speak  of  religion  ;  but 
it  is  always  a  duty  not  to  turn  men  from  it.  We  may  excuse 
his  somewhat  lax  and  licentious  opinions  on  some  relations  of 
life,  but  not  his  thoroughly  pagan  opinions  on  death,  for  a  man 
must  give  over  piety  altogether,  if  he  does  not  at  least  wish 
to  die  like  a  Christian.  Now  through  the  whole  of  his  book  he 
looks  forward  to  nothing  but  a  soft  and  indolent  death. 

What  good  there  is  in  Montaigne  can  only  have  been 

c 


PREFACE  TO  THE  FIRST  PART. 


18 

acquired  with  difficulty.  What  is  evil  in  him,  I  mean  apart 
from  his  morality,  could  have  been  corrected  in  a  moment,  if 
any  one  had  told  him  he  was  too  prolix  and  too  egoistical. 

Not  in  Montaigne,  but  in  myself,  I  find  all  that  I  see  in  him. 

Let  no  one  say  I  have  said  nothing  new,  the  disposition  of 
my  matter  is  new.  In  playing  tennis,  two  men  play  with  the 
same  ball,  but  one  places  it  better. 

It  might  as  truly  be  said  that  my  words  have  been  used  before. 
And  if  the  same  thoughts  in  a  different  arrangement  do  not  form 
a  different  discourse,  so  neither  do  the  same  words  in  a  different 
arrangement  form  different  thoughts. 


MAN'S  DISPROPORTION. 


This  is  where  our  intuitive  knowledge  leads  us.  If  it  be  not 
true,  there  is  no  truth  in  man  ;  and  if  it  be,  he  finds  therein  a 
great  reason  for  humiliation,  because  he  must  abase  himself 
in  one  way  or  another.  And  since  he  cannot  exist  without 
such  knowledge,  I  wish  that  before  entering  on  deeper  re¬ 
searches  into  nature  he  would  consider  her  seriously  and 
at  leisure,  that  he  would  examine  himself  also,  and  knowing 
what  proportion  there  is  .  .  .  Let  man  then  contemplate  the 
whole  realm  of  nature  in  her  full  and  exalted  majesty,  and 
turn  his  eyes  from  the  low  objects  which  hem  him  round  ; 
let  him  observe  that  brilliant  light  set  like  an  eternal  lamp  to 
illumine  the  universe,  let  the  earth  appear  to  him  a  point  in 
comparison  with  the  vast  circle  described  by  that  sun,  and 
let  him  see  with  amazement  that  even  this  vast  circle  is  itself 
but  a  fine  point  in  regard  to  that  described  by  the  stars  revolving 
in  the  firmament.  If  our  view'  be  arrested  there,  let  imagination 
pass  beyond,  and  it  will  sooner  exhaust  the  power  of  thinking 
than  nature  that  of  giving  scope  for  thought.  The  whole  visible 
world  is  but  an  imperceptible  speck  in  the  ample  bosom  of 
nature.  No  idea  approaches  it.  We  may  swell  our  conceptions 
beyond  all  imaginable  space,  yet  bring  forth  only  atoms  in 
comparison  with  the  reality  of  things.  It  is  an  infinite  sphere, 
the  centre  of  which  is  every  where,  the  circumference  no  where. 
It  is,  in  short,  the  greatest  sensible  mark  of  the  almighty  powrer 
of  God,  that  imagination  loses  itself  in  that  thought. 

Then,  returning  to  himself,  let  man  consider  his  own 
being  compared  with  all  that  is  ;  let  him  regard  himself  as 


20 


MAN'S  DISPROPORTION. 


wandering  in  this  remote  province  of  nature ;  and  from  the  little 
dungeon  in  which  he  finds  himself  lodged,  I  mean  the  uni¬ 
verse,  let  him  learn  to  set  a  true  value  on  the  earth,  on  its 
kingdoms,  its  cities,  and  on  himself. 

What  is  a  man  in  the  infinite?  But  to  show  him  another 
prodigy  no  less  astonishing,  let  him  examine  the  most  delicate 
things  he  knows.  Let  him  take  a  mite  which  in  its  minute  body 
presents  him  with  parts  incomparably  more  minute  ;  limbs  with 
their  joints,  veins  in  the  limbs,  blood  in  the  veins,  humours  in 
the  blood,  drops  in  the  humours,  vapours  in  the  drops  ;  let  him, 
again  dividing  these  last,  exhaust  his  power  of  thought;  let 
the  last  point  at  which  he  arrives  be  that  of  which  we  speak, 
and  he  will  perhaps  think  that  here  is  the  extremest  diminutive 
in  nature.  Then  I  will  open  before  him  therein  a  new  abyss.  I 
will  paint  for  him  not  only  the  visible  universe,  but  all  that  he  can 
conceive  of  nature’s  immensity  in  the  enclosure  of  this  diminished 
atom.  Let  him  therein  see  an  infinity  of  universes  of  which  each 
has  its  firmament,  its  planets,  its  earth,  in  the  same  proportion 
as  in  the  visible  world  ;  in  each  earth  animals,  and  at  the  last  the 
mites,  in  which  he  will  come  upon  all  that  was  in  the  first,  and 
still  find  in  these  others  the  same  without  end  and  without 
cessation  ;  let  him  lose  himself  in  wonders  as  astonishing  in 
their  minuteness  as  the  others  in  their  immensity ;  for  who  will 
not  be  amazed  at  seeing  that  our  body,  which  before  was  imper¬ 
ceptible  in  the  universe,  itself  imperceptible  in  the  bosom  of  the 
whole,  is  now  a  colossus,  a  world,  a  whole,  in  regard  to  the 
nothingness  to  which  we  cannot  attain. 

Whoso  takes  this  survey  of  himself  will  be  terrified  at  the 
thought  that  he  is  upheld  in  the  material  being,  given  him  by 
nature,  between  these  two  abysses  of  the  infinite  and  nothing, 
he  will  tremble  at  the  sight  of  these  marvels;  and  I  think  that  as 
his  curiosity  changes  into  wonder,  he  will  be  more  disposed  to 
contemplate  them  in  silence  than  to  search  into  them  with 
presumption. 

For  after  all  what  is  man  in  nature?  A  nothing  in  regard  to 
the  infinite,  a  whole  in  regard  to  nothing,  a  mean  between 
nothing  and  the  whole  ;  infinitely  removed  from  understanding 
either  extreme.  The  end  of  things  and  their  beginnings  are  in- 


MAX'S  DISPROPORTION. 


21 


vincibly  hidden  from  him  in  impenetrable  secrecy,  he  is  equally 
incapable  of  seeing  the  nothing  whence  he  was  taken,  and  the 
infinite  in  which  he  is  engulfed. 

What  shall  he  do  then,  but  discern  somewhat  of  the  middle 
of  things  in  an  eternal  despair  of  knowing  either  their  beginning 
or  their  end  ?  All  things  arise  from  nothing,  and  tend  towards 
the  infinite.  Who  can  follow  their  marvellous  course?  The 
author  of  these  wonders  can  understand  them,  and  none  but  he. 

Of  these  two  infinites  in  nature,  the  infinitely  great  and  the 
infinitely  little,  man  can  more  easily  conceive  the  great. 

Because  they  have  not  considered  these  infinities,  men  have 
rashly  plunged  into  the  research  of  nature,  as  though  they  bore 
some  proportion  to  her. 

It  is  strange  that  they  have  wished  to  understand  the  origin 
of  all  that  is,  and  thence  to  attain  to  the  knowledge  of  the 
whole,  with  a  presumption  as  infinite  as  their  object.  For 
there  is  no  doubt  that  such  a  design  cannot  be  formed  without 
presumption  or  without  a  capacity  as  infinite  as  nature. 

If  we  are  well  informed,  we  understand  that  nature  having 
graven  her  own  image  and  that  of  her  author  on  all  things,  they 
are  almost  all  partakers  of  her  double  infinity.  Thus  we  see 
that  all  the  sciences  are  infinite  in  the  extent  of  their  researches, 
for  none  can  doubt  that  geometry,  for  instance,  has  an  infinite 
infinity  of  problems  to  propose.  They  are  also  infinite  in  the 
number  and  in  the  nicety  of  their  premisses,  for  it  is  evident 
that  those  which  are  finally  proposed  are  not  self-supporting, 
but  are  based  on  others,  which  again  having  others  as  their 
support  have  no  finality. 

But  we  make  some  apparently  final  to  the  reason,  just  as  in 
regard  to  material  things  we  call  that  an  indivisible  point  beyond 
which  our  senses  can  no  longer  perceive  any  thing,  though  by  its 
nature  this  also  is  infinitely  divisible. 

Of  these  two  scientific  infinities,  that  of  greatness  is  the  most 
obvious  to  the  senses,  and  therefore  a  few  persons  have  made 
pretensions  to  universal  knowledge.  “  I  will  discourse  of  the 
all,”  said  Democritus. 

But  beyond  the  fact  that  it  is  a  small  thing  to  speak  of  it 
simply,  without  proving  and  knowing,  it  is  nevertheless  impos- 


no 


MAN'S  DISPROPORTION. 


sible  to  do  so,  the  infinite  multitude  of  things  being  so  hidden, 
that  all  we  can  express  by  word  or  thought  is  but  an  invisible 
trace  of  them.  Hence  it  is  plain  how  foolish,  vain,  and  ignorant 
is  that  title  of  some  books  :  De  onini  scibili. 

But  the  infinitely  little  is  far  less  evident.  Philosophers  have 
much  more  frequently  asserted  they  have  attained  it,  yet  in  that 
very  point  they  have  all  stumbled.  This  has  given  occasion  to 
such  common  titles  as  The  Origin  of  Creation,  The  Principles  of 
Philosophy ,  and  the  like,  as  presumptuous  in  fact  though  not  in 
appearance  as  that  dazzling  one,  De  omni  scibili. 

We  naturally  think  that  we  can  more  easily  reach  the  centre 
of  things  than  embrace  their  circumference.  The  visible 
bulk  of  the  world  visibly  exceeds  us,  but  as  we  exceed  little 
things,  we  think  ourselves  more  capable  of  possessing  them. 
Yet  we  need  no  less  capacity  to  attain  the  nothing  than  the 
whole.  Infinite  capacity  is  needed  for  both,  and  it  seems  to  me 
that  whoever  shall  have  understood  the  ultimate  principles  of 
existence  might  also  attain  to  the  knowledge  of  the  infinite. 
The  one  depends  on  the  other,  and  one  leads  to  the  other. 
Extremes  meet  and  reunite  by  virtue  of  their  distance,  to  find 
each  other  in  God,  and  in  God  alone. 

Let  us  then  know  our  limits  ;  we  are  something,  but  we  are 
not  all.  What  existence  we  have  conceals  from  us  the  knowledge 
of  first  principles  which  spring  from  the  nothing,  while  the  petti¬ 
ness  of  that  existence  hides  from  us  the  sight  of  the  infinite. 

In  the  order  of  intelligible  things  our  intelligence  holds  the 
same  position  as  our  body  holds  in  the  vast  extent  of  nature. 

Restricted  in  every  way,  this  middle  state  between  two 
extremes  is  common  to  all  our  weaknesses. 

Our  senses  can  perceive  no  extreme.  Too  much  noise  deafens 
us,  excess  of  light  blinds  us,  too  great  distance  or  nearness  equally 
interfere  with  our  vision,  prolixity  or  brevity  equally  obscure  a 
discourse,  too  much  truth  overwhelms  us.  I  know  even  those 
who  cannot  understand  that  if  four  be  taken  from  nothing 
nothing  remains.  First  principles  are  too  plain  for  us,  super¬ 
fluous  pleasure  troubles  us.  Too  many  concords  are  unpleasing 
in  music,  and  too  many  benefits  annoy,  we  wish  to  have  where¬ 
withal  to  overpay  our  debt.  Beneficia  eo  usque  lecta  sunt  dum 


MAN'S  DISPROPORTION. 


*3 


videntur  exsolvi  posse  j  ubi  multiim  antevenere ,  pro  gratia 
odium  redditur. 

We  feel  neither  extreme  heat  nor  extreme  cold.  Qualities  in 
excess  are  inimical  to  us  and  not  apparent  to  the  senses,  we 
do  not  feel  but  are  passive  under  them.  The  weakness  of  youth 
and  age  equally  hinder  the  mind,  as  also  too  much  and  too 
little  teaching.  .  . 

In  a  word,  all  extremes  are  for  us  as  though  they  were  not ; 
and  we  are  not,  in  regard  to  them  :  they  escape  us,  or  we  them. 

This  is  our  true  state  ;  this  is  what  renders  us  incapable 
both  of  certain  knowledge  and  of  absolute  ignorance.  We  sail 
on  a  vast  expanse,  ever  uncertain,  ever  drifting,  hurried  from 
one  to  the  other  goal.  If  we  think  to  attach  ourselves  firmly 
to  any  point,  it  totters  and  fails  us  ;  if  we  follow,  it  eludes  our 
grasp,  and  flies  us,  vanishing  for  ever.  Nothing  stays  for  us. 
This  is  our  natural  condition,  yet  always  the  most  contrary 
to  our  inclination  ;  we  burn  with  desire  to  find  a  steadfast  place 
and  an  ultimate  fixed  basis  whereon  we  may  build  a  tower  to 
reach  the  infinite.  But  our  whole  foundation  breaks  up,  and 
earth  opens  to  the  abysses. 

We  may  not  then  look  for  certainty  or  stability.  Our  reason 
is  always  deceived  by  changing  shows,  nothing  can  fix  the 
finite  between  the  two  infinites,  which  at  once  enclose  and  fly 
from  it. 

If  this  be  once  well  understood  I  think  that  we  shall  rest,  each 
in  the  state  wherein  nature  has  placed  him.  This  element  which 
falls  to  us  as  our  lot  being  always  distant  from  either  extreme, 
it  matters  not  that  a  man  should  have  a  trifle  more  knowledge 
of  the  universe.  If  he  has  it,  he  but  begins  a  little  higher.  He  is 
always  infinitely  distant  from  the  end,  and  the  duration  of  our 
life  is  infinitely  removed  from  eternity,  even  if  it  last  ten  years 
longer. 

In  regard  to  these  infinites  all  finites  are  equal,  and  I  see 
not  why  we  should  fix  our  imagination  on  one  more  than  on 
another.  The  only  comparison  which  we  can  make  of  ourselves 
to  the  finite  troubles  us. 

Were  man  to  begin  with  the  study  of  himself,  he  would  see 
how  incapable  he  is  of  proceeding  further.  How  can  a  part  know 


24 


MAN'S  DISPROPORTION. 


the  whole  ?  But  he  may  perhaps  aspire  to  know  at  least  the  parts 
with  which  he  has  proportionate  relation.  But  the  parts  of  the 
world  are  so  linked  and  related,  that  I  think  it  impossible  to 
know  one  without  another,  or  without  the  whole. 

Man,  for  instance,  is  related  to  all  that  he  knows.  He  needs 
place  wherein  to  abide,  time  through  which  to  exist,  motion 
in  order  to  live  ;  he  needs  constituent  elements,  warmth  and  food 
to  nourish  him,  air  to  breathe.  He  sees  light,  he  feels  bodies, 
he  contracts  an  alliance  with  all  that  is. 

To  know  man  then  it  is  necessary  to  understand  how  it 
comes  that  he  needs  air  to  breathe,  and  to  know  the  air  we  must 
understand  how  it  has  relation  to  the  life  of  man,  etc. 

Flame  cannot  exist  without  air,  therefore  to  know  one,  we  must 
know  the  other. 

All  that  exists  then  is  both  cause  and  effect,  dependent  and 
supporting,  mediate  and  immediate,  and  all  is  held  together  by 
a  natural  though  imperceptible  bond,  which  unites  things  most 
distant  and  most  different.  I  hold  it  impossible  to  know  the  parts 
without  knowing  the  whole,  or  to  know  the  whole  without 
knowing  the  parts  in  detail. 

I  hold  it  impossible  to  know  one  alone  without  all  the  others, 
that  is  to  say  impossible  purely  and  absolutely. 

The  eternity  of  things  in  themselves  or  in  God  must  also 
confound  our  brief  duration.  The  fixed  and  constant  immobility 
of  Nature  in  comparison  with  the  continual  changes  which 
take  place  in  us  must  have  the  same  effect. 

And  what  completes  our  inability  to  know  things  is  that  they 
are  in  their  essence  simple,  whereas  we  are  composed  of  two 
opposite  natures  differing  in  kind,  soul  and  body.  F or  it  is  impos¬ 
sible  that  our  reasoning  part  should  be  other  than  spiritual  ;  and 
should  any  allege  that  we  are  simply  material,  this  would  far 
more  exclude  us  from  the  knowledge  of  things,  since  it  is 
an  inconceivable  paradox  to  affirm  that  matter  can  know 
itself,  and  it  is  not  possible  for  us  to  know  how  it  should  know 
itself. 

So,  were  we  simply  material,  we  could  know  nothing  whatever, 
and  if  we  are  composed  of  spirit  and  matter  we  cannot  perfectly 
know  what  is  simple,  whether  it  be  spiritual  or  material.  For 


MAN'S  DISPROPORTION. 


25 


how  should  we  know  matter  distinctly,  since  our  being,  which 
acts  on  this  knowledge,  is  partly  spiritual,  and  how  should  we 
know  spiritual  substances  clearly  since  we  have  a  body  which 
weights  us,  and  drags  us  down  to  earth. 

Moreover  what  completes  our  inability  is  the  simplicity  of 
things  compared  with  our  double  and  complex  nature.  To 
dispute  this  point  were  an  invincible  absurdity,  for  it  is  as  absurd 
as  impious  to  deny  that  man  is  composed  of  two  parts,  differing 
in  their  nature,  soul  and  body.  This  renders  us  unable  to 
know  all  things  ;  for  if  this  complexity  be  denied,  and  it  be 
asserted  that  we  are  entirely  material,  it  is  plain  that  matter 
is  incapable  of  knowing  matter.  Nothing  is  more  impossible 
than  this. 

Let  us  conceive  then  that  this  mixture  of  spirit  and  clay  throws 
us  out  of  proportion.  .  . 

Hence  it  comes  that  almost  all  philosophers  have  confounded 
different  ideas,  and  speak  of  material  things  in  spiritual  phrase, 
and  of  spiritual  things  in  material  phrase.  For  they  say  boldly 
that  bodies  have  a  tendency  to  fall,  that  they  seek  after  their 
centre,  that  they  fly  from  destruction,  that  they  fear  a  void,  that 
they  have  inclinations,  sympathies,  antipathies  ;  and  all  of  these 
are  spiritual  qualities.  Again,  in  speaking  of  spirits,  they  con¬ 
ceive  of  them  as  in  a  given  spot,  or  as  moving  from  place  to 
place  ;  qualities  which  belong  to  matter  alone. 

Instead  of  receiving  the  ideas  of  these  things  simply,  we  colour 
them  with  our  own  qualities,  and  stamp  with  our  complex  being 
all  the  simple  things  which  we  contemplate. 

Who  would  not  think,  when  we  declare  that  all  that  is  con¬ 
sists  of  mind  and  matter,  that  we  really  understood  this  com¬ 
bination?  Yet  it  is  the  one  thing  we  least  understand.  Man  is 
to  himself  the  most  marvellous  object  in  Nature,  for  he  cannot 
conceive  what  matter  is,  still  less  what  is  mind,  and  less  than  all 
how  a  material  body  should  be  united  to  a  mind.  This  is  the 
crown  of  all  his  difficulties,  yet  it  is  his  very  being  :  Modtis  quo 
corporibus  adhceret  spiritus  comprehendi  ab  homine  non  potest 
et  hoc  tamen  homo  est. 

These  are  some  of  the  causes  which  lender  man  so  totally 
unable  to  know  nature.  For  nature  has  a  twofold  infinity,  he 


26 


MAN'S  DISPROPORTION. 


is  finite  and  limited.  Nature  is  permanent,  and  continues  in  one 
stay  ;  he  is  fleeting  and  mortal.  All  things  fail  and  change  each 
instant,  he  sees  them  only  as  they  pass,  they  have  their  beginning 
and  end,  he  conceives  neither  the  one  nor  the  other.  They  are 
simple,  he  is  composed  of  two  different  natures.  And  to  com¬ 
plete  the  proof  of  our  weakness,  I  will  finish  by  this  reflection 
on  our  natural  condition.  In  a  word,  to  complete  the  proof  of 
our  weakness,  I  will  end  with  these  two  considerations.  .  . 

The  nature  of  man  may  be  considered  in  two  ways,  one  accord¬ 
ing  to  its  end,  and  then  it  is  great  and  incomparable  ;  the  other 
according  to  popular  opinion,  as  we  judge  of  the  nature  of  a 
horse  or  a  dog,  by  popular  opinion  which  discerns  in  it  the 
power  of  speed,  et  animum  arcendi;  and  then  man  is  abject  and 
vile.  These  are  the  two  ways  which  make  us  judge  of  it  so  dif¬ 
ferently  and  which  cause  such  disputes  among  philosophers. 

For  one  denies  the  supposition  of  the  other;  one  says ,He  was 
not  born  for  such  an  end ,  for  all  his  actions  are  repugnant  to  it; 
the  other  says,  He  cannot  gain  his  end  when  he  commits  base  deeds. 

Two  things  instruct  man  about  his  whole  nature,  instinct  and 
experience. 

Inconstancy. — We  think  we  are  playing  on  ordinary  organs 
when  we  play  upon  man.  Men  are  organs  indeed,  but  fantastic, 
changeable,  and  various,  with  pipes  not  arranged  in  due  suc¬ 
cession.  Those  who  understand  only  how  to  play  upon  ordinary 
organs  make  no  harmonies  on  these.  We  should  know  where 
are  the  .  .  . 

Nature. — Nature  has  placed  us  so  truly  in  the  centre,  that  if 
we  alter  one  side  of  the  balance  we  alter  also  the  other.  This 
makes  me  believe  that  there  is  a  mechanism  in  our  brain,  so  ad¬ 
justed,  that  who  touches  one  touches  also  the  contrary  spring. 

Lustravit  lampadi  terras. — The  weather  and  my  moods  have 
little  in  common.  I  have  my  foggy  and  my  fine  days  within  me, 
whether  my  affairs  go  well  or  ill  has  little  to  do  with  the  matter. 
I  sometimes  strive  against  my  luck,  the  glory  of  subduing  it 
makes  me  subdue  it  gaily,  whereas  I  am  sometimes  wearied  in 
the  midst  of  my  good  luck. 


MAN'S  DISPROPORTION. 


27 


It  is  difficult  to  submit  anything  to  the  judgment  of  a  second 
person  without  prejudicing  him  by  the  way  in  which  we  submit  it. 
If  we  say,  “  I  think  it  beautiful,  I  think  it  obscure,”  or  the  like,  we 
either  draw  the  imagination  to  that  opinion,  or  irritate  it  to  form 
the  contrary.  It  is  better  to  say  nothing,  so  that  the  other  may 
judge  according  to  what  really  is,  that  is  to  say,  as  it  then  is,  and 
according  as  the  other  circumstances  which  are  not  of  our  making 
have  placed  it.  We  at  least  shall  have  added  nothing  of  our 
own,  except  that  silence  produces  an  effect,  according  to  the  turn 
and  the  interpretation  which  the  other  is  inclined  to  give  it,  or  as 
he  may  conjecture  it,  from  gestures  or  countenance,  or  from  the 
tone  of  voice,  if  he  be  a  physiognomist ;  so  difficult  is  it  not  to  oust 
the  judgment  from  its  natural  seat,  or  rather  so  rarely  is  it  firm 
and  stable  ! 

The  spirit  of  this  sovereign  judge  of  the  wrorld  is  not  so 
independent  but  that  if  is  liable  to  be  troubled  by  the  first 
disturbance  about  him.  The  noise  of  a  cannon  is  not  needed  to 
break  his  train  of  thought,  it  need  only  be  the  creaking  of  a 
weathercock  or  a  pulley.  Do  not  be  astonished  if  at  this  moment 
he  argues  incoherently,  a  fly  is  buzzing  about  his  ears,  and  that 
is  enough  to  render  him  incapable  of  sound  judgment.  Would 
you  have  him  arrive  at  truth,  drive  away  that  creature  which 
holds  his  reason  in  check,  and  troubles  that  powerful  intellect 
which  gives  laws  to  towns  and  kingdoms.  Here  is  a  droll  kind 
of  god  !  O  ridicolosissimo  eroe  ! 

The  power  of  flies,  which  win  battles,  hinder  our  soul  from 
action,  devour  our  body. 

When  we  are  too  young  our  judgment  is  at  fault,  so  also  when 
we  are  too  old. 

If  we  take  not  thought  enough,  or  too  much,  on  any  matter, 
we  are  obstinate  and  infatuated. 

He  that  considers  his  work  so  soon  as  it  leaves  his  hands,  is 
prejudiced  in  its  favour,  he  that  delays  his  survey  too  long, 

.  cannot  regain  the  spirit  of  it. 

So  with  pictures  seen  from  too  near  or  too  far ;  there  is  but  one 


28 


MAN’S  DISPROPORTION. 


precise  point  from  which  to  look  at  them,  all  others  are  too  near 
or  too  far,  too  high  or  too  low.  Perspective  determines  that 
precise  point  in  the  art  of  painting.  But  who  shall  determine 
it  in  truth  or  morals  ? 

When  I  consider  the  short  duration  of  my  life,  swallowed  up 
in  the  eternity  before  and  after,  the  small  space  which  I  fill,  or 
even  can  see,  engulfed  in  the  infinite  immensity  of  spaces  whereof 
I  know  nothing,  and  which  know  nothing  of  me,  I  am  terrified, 
and  wonder  that  I  am  here  rather  than  there,  for  there  is  no 
reason  why  here  rather  than  there,  or  now  rather  than  then. 
Who  has  set  me  here  ?  By  whose  order  and  design  have  this 
place  and  time  been  destined  for  me? — Memoria  hospitis  unins 
diei  prcetereuntis. 

It  is  not  well  to  be  too  much  at  liberty.  It  is  not  well  to  have 
all  we  want. 

How  many  kingdoms  know  nothing  of  us  ! 

The  eternal  silence  of  these  infinite  spaces  alarms  me. 

Nothing  more  astonishes  me  than  to  see  that  men  are  not 
astonished  at  their  own  weakness.  They  act  seriously,  and 
every  one  follows  his  own  mode  of  life,  not  because  it  is,  as  a 
fact,  good  to  follow,  being  the  custom,  but  as  if  each  man  knew 
certainly  where  are  reason  and  justice.  They  find  themselves 
constantly  deceived,  and  by  an  amusing  humility  always  imagine 
that  the  fault  is  in  themselves,  and  not  in  the  art  which  all  pro¬ 
fess  to  understand.  But  it  is  well  there  are  so  many  of  this  kind 
of  people  in  the  world,  who  are  not  sceptics  for  the  glory  of 
scepticism,  to  show  that  man  is  thoroughly  capable  of  the  most 
extravagant  opinions,  because  he  is  capable  of  believing  that  his 
weakness  is  not  natural  and  inevitable,  but  that,  on  the  contrary, 
his  wisdom  comes  by  nature. 

Nothing  fortifies  scepticism  more  than  that  there  are  some 
who  are  not  sceptics.  If  all  were  so,  they  would  be  wrong. 

Two  infinites,  a  mean.  If  we  read  too  quickly  or  too  slowly, 
we  understand  nothing. 


MAN'S  DISPROPORTION. 


29 


Too  much  and  too  little  wine.  Give  a  man  none,  he  cannot 
find  truth,  give  him  too  much,  the  same. 

Chance  gives  thoughts,  and  chance  takes  them  away  ;  there  is 
no  art  for  keeping  or  gaining  them. 

A  thought  has  escaped  me.  I  would  write  it  down.  I  write 
instead,  that  it  has  escaped  me. 

In  writing  down  my  thought  it  now  and  then  escapes  me,  but 
this  reminds  me  of  my  weakness,  which  I  constantly  forget. 
This  teaches  me  as  much  as  my  forgotten  thought,  for  my  whole 
study  is  to  know  my  nothingness. 

Are  men  so  strong,  as  to  be  insensible  to  all  which  affects 
them  ?  Let  us  try  them  in  the  loss  of  goods  or  honour.  Ah  !  the 
charm  is  worked. 

To  fear  death  out  of  danger,  and  not  in  danger,  for  we  must 
be  men. 

Sudden  death  is  the  only  thing  to  fear,  therefore  confessors 
live  in  the  houses  of  the  great. 

We  know_ourseIve&  so- little,  -that  many  think  themselves  near 
deaUTwhen  they  are  perfectly  well,  and  many  think  themselves 
well  when  they  are  near  death,  since  they  do  not  feel  the  fever 
at  hand,  or  the  abscess  about  to  form. 

Why  is  my  knowledge  so  restricted,  or  my  height,  or  my  life  to 
a  hundred  years  rather  than  to  a  thousand  ?  What  was  nature’s 
reason  for  giving  me  such  length  of  days,  and  for  choosing  this  i~ 
number  rather  than  another,  in  that  infinity  where  there  is  no  » 
reason  to  choose  one  more  than  another,  since  none  is  preferable 
to  another  ? 

The  nature  of  man  is  not  always  to  go  forward,  it  has  its 
advances  and  retreats. 

Fever  has  its  hot  and  cold  fits,  and  the  cold  proves  as  well  as 
the  hot  how  great  is  the  force  of  the  fever. 


33 


MAN'S  DISPR  OPOR  TION. 


The  inventions  of  men  from  age  to  age  follow  the  same  plan. 
It  is  the  same  with  the  goodness  and  the  wickedness  of  the  world 
in  general. 

Plerumque  gratce  principibus  vices. 

The  strength  of  a  man’s  virtue  must  not  be  measured  by  his 
occasional  efforts,  but  by  his  ordinary  life. 

Those  great  spiritual  efforts  to  which  the  soul  sometimes 
attains  are  things  on  which  it  takes  no  permanent  hold.  It 
leaps  to  them,  not  as  to  a  throne,  for  ever,  but  only  for  an 
instant. 

I  do  not'admire  the  excess  of  a  virtue  as  of  valour,  unless  I 
see  at  the  same  time  the  excess  of  the  opposite  virtue,  as 
in  Epaminondas,  who  had  exceeding  valour  and  exceeding 
humanity,  for  otherwise  we  do  not  rise,  but  fall./  Grandeur  is  not 
shown  by  being  at  one  extremity,  but  in  touching  both  at  once, 
and  filling  the  whole  space  between.  !  But  perhaps  this  is  only  a 
sudden  motion  of  the  soul  from  one  to  the  other  extreme,  and  in 
fact  it  is  always  at  one  point  only,  as  when  a  firebrand  is  whirled. 
Be  it  so,  but  at  least  this  marks  the  agility  if  not  the  magnitude 
of  the  soul. 

We  do  not  remain  virtuous  by  our  own  power,  but  by  the 
counterpoise  of  two  opposite  vices,  we  remain  standing  as  be¬ 
tween  two  contrary  winds  ;  take  away  one  of  these  vices,  we  fall 
into  the  other. 

When  we  would  pursue  the  virtues  to  their  extremes  on  either 
side,  vices  present  themselves,  which  insinuate  themselves  in¬ 
sensibly  there,  in  their  insensible  course  towards  the  infinitely 
great,  so  that  we  lose  ourselves  in  vices,  and  no  longer  see  virtues. 

It  is  not  shameful  to  man  to  yield  to  pain,  and  it  is  shameful 
to  yield  to  pleasure.  This  is  not  because  pain  comes  from  without 
us,  while  we  seek  pleasure,  for  we  may  seek  pain,  and  yield 
to  it  willingly  without  this  kind  of  baseness.  How  comes  it  then 
that  reason  finds  it  glorious  in  us  to  yield  under  the  assaults  of 
pain,  and  shameful  to  yield  under  the  assaults  of  pleasure? 


MAN'S  DISPROPORTION. 


3i 

It  is  because  pain  does  not  tempt  and  attract  us.  We  our¬ 
selves  choose  it  voluntarily,  and  will  that  it  have  dominion  over 
us.  We  are  thus  masters  of  the  situation,  and  so  far  man  yields 
to  himself,  but  in  pleasure  man  yields  to  pleasure.  Now  only 
mastery  and  empire  bring  glory,  and  only  slavery  causes  shame. 

All  things  may  prove  fatal  to  us,  even  those  made  to  serve  us, 
as  in  nature  walls  may  kill  us  and  stairs  may  kill  us,  if  we 
walk  not  aright. 

The  slightest  movement  affects  all  nature,  the  whole  sea 
changes  because  of  a  rock.  Thus  in  grace,  the  most  trifling 
action  has  effect  on  everything  by  its  consequences  ;  therefore 
everything  is  important. 

Provided  we  know  each  man’s  ruling  passion  we  are  sure  of 
pleasing  him ;  yet  each  man  has  his  fancies,  contrary  to  his  real 
good,  even  in  the  very  idea  he  forms  of  good ;  a  strange  fact 
AvhTcfr  puts  all  out  of  tune. 

When  our  passions  lead  us  to  any  act  we  forget  our  duty.  If 
we  like  a  book  we  read  it,  when  we  should  be  doing  something 
else.  But  as  a  reminder  we  ought  to  propose  to  ourselves  to  do 
something  distasteful ;  we  then  excuse  ourselves  that  we  have 
something  else  to  do,  and  thus  remember  our  duty. 

Sneezing  absorbs  all  the  faculties  of  the  soul,  as  do  certain 
bodily  functions,  but  we  do  not  draw  therefrom  the  same  conclu¬ 
sions  against  the  greatness  of  man,  because  it  is  against  his  will. 
And  if  we  make  ourselves  sneeze  we  do  so  against  our  will.  It 
is  not  in  view  of  the  act  itself,  but  for  another  end,  and  so  it  is 
not  a  mark  of  the  weakness  of  man,  and  of  his  slavery  to  that  act. 

Scaramouch,  who  thinks  of  one  thing  only. 

The  doctor,  who  speaks  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour  after  he  has 
said  all  he  has  to  say,  so  full  is  he  of  the  desire  of  talking. 

The  parrot’s  beak,  which  he  dries  though  it  is  clean  already. 

The  sense  of  falseness  in  present  pleasures,  and  our  ignorance 
of  the  vanity  of  absent  pleasures,  are  the  causes  of  inconstancy. 


32 


MAN'S  DISPROPORTION. 


He  no  longer  loves  the  person  he  loved  ten  years  ago.  I  can 
well  believe  it.  She  is  no  longer  the  same,  nor  is  he.  He  was 
young,  and  so  was  she  ;  she  is  quite  different.  He  would 
perhaps  love  her  still  were  she  what  she  then  was. 

Reasons,  seen  from  afar,  appear  to  restrict  our  view,  but  not 
when  we  reach  them  ;  we  begin  to  see  beyond. 

...  We  look  at  things  not  only  from  other  sides,  but  with 
other  eyes,  and  care  not  to  find  them  alike. 

Diversity  is  ample,  as  all  tones  of  the  voice,  all  modes  of  walk¬ 
ing,  coughing,  blowing  the  nose,  sneezing.  We  distinguish  dif¬ 
ferent  kinds  of  vine  by  their  fruit,  and  name  them  the  Condrieu, 
the  Desargues,  and  this  stock.  But  is  this  all  ?  Has  a  vine  ever 
produced  two  bunches  exactly  alike,  and  has  a  bunch  ever  two 
grapes  alike  ?  etc. 

I  never  can  judge  of  the  same  thing  exactly  in  the  same  way. 
I  cannot  judge  of  my  work  while  engaged  on  it.  I  must  do  as 
the  painters,  stand  at  a  distance,  but  not  too  far.  How  far, 
then  ?  Guess. 

Diversity. — Theology  is  a  science ;  but  at  the  same  time 
how  many  sciences  !  Man  is  a  whole,  but  if  we  dissect  him,  will 
man  be  the  head,  the  heart,  the  stomach,  the  veins,  each  vein, 
each  portion  of  a  vein,  the  blood,  each  humour  of  the  blood  ? 

A  town,  a  champaign,  is  from  afar  a  town  and  a  champaign  ; 
but  as  we  approach  there  are  houses,  trees,  tiles,  leaves,  grass, 
emmets,  limbs  of  emmets,  in  infinite  series.  All  this  is  comprised 
under  the  word  champaign. 

We  like  to  see  the  error,  the  passion  of  Cleobuline,  because 
she  is  not  aware  of  it.  She  would  be  displeasing  if  she  were  not 
deceived. 

What  a  confusion  of  judgment  is  that,  by  which  every  one  puts 
himself  above  all  the  rest  of  the  world,  and  loves  his  own  advan¬ 
tage  and  the  duration  of  his  happiness  or  his  life  above  those  of 
all  others. 


DIVERSION . 


DIVERSION. — When  I  have  set  myself  now  and  then  to  consider 
the  various  distractions  of  men,  the  toils  and  dangers  to  which 
they  expose  themselves  in  the  court  or  the  camp,  whence 
arise  so  many  quarrels  and  passions,  such  daring  and  often 
such  evil  exploits,  etc.,  I  have  discovered  that  all  the  misfor  ¬ 
tunes  of  men  arise  from  one  thing  only,  that  they  are  unable  to 
stay  quietly  in  their  own  chamber.  A  man  who  has  enough  to 
live  on,  if  he  knew  how  to  dwell  with  pleasure  in  his  own  home, 
would  not  leave  it  for  sea-faring  or  to  besiege  a  city.  An  office 
in  the  army  would  not  be  bought  so  dearly  but  that  it  seems 
insupportable  not  to  stir  from  the  town,  and  people  only  seek 
conversation  and  amusing  games  because  they  cannot  remain 
with  pleasure  in  their  own  homes. 

But  upon  stricter  examination,  when,  having  found  the  cause 
of  all  our  ills,  I  have  sought  to  discover  the  reason  of  it,  I  have 
found  one  which  is  paramount,  the  natural  evil  of  our  weak  and 
mortal  condition,  so  miserable  that  nothing  can  console  us 
when  we  think  of  it  attentively. 

Whatever  condition  we  represent  to  ourselves,  if  we  bring  to 
our  minds  all  the  advantages  it  is  possible  to  possess,  Royalty  is 
the  finest  position  in  the  world.  Yet,  when  we  imagine  a  king 
surrounded  with  all  the  conditions  which  he  can  desire,  if  he 
be  without  diversion,  and  be  allowed  to  consider  and  examine 
ivhat  he  is,  this  feeble  happiness  will  never  sustain  him  ;  he 
will  necessarily  fall  into  a  foreboding  of  maladies  which  threaten 
him,  of  revolutions  which  may  arise,  and  lastly,  of  death  and 
inevitable  diseases  ;  so  that  if  he  be  without  what  is  called 
diversion  he  is  unhappy,  and  more  unhappy  than  the  humblest 
of  his  subjects  who  plays  and  diverts  himself. 

Hence  it  comes  that  play  and  the  society  of  women,  war, 

D 


V 


34 


DIVERSION. 


and  offices  of  state,  are  so  sought  after.  Not  that  there  is  in 
these  any  real  happiness,  or  that  any  imagine  true  bliss  to 
consist  in  the  money  won  at  play,  or  in  the  hare  which  is 
hunted;  we  would  not  have  these  as  gifts.  We  do  not  seek  an 
easy  and  peaceful  lot  which  leaves  us  free  to  think  of  our  un¬ 
happy  condition,  nor  the  dangers  of  war,  nor  the  troubles  of 
statecraft,  but  seek  rather  the  distraction  which  amuses  us,  and 
diverts  our  mind  from  these  thoughts. 

Hence  it  comes  that  men  so  love  noise  and  movement,  hence 
it  comes  that  a  prison  is  so  horrible  a  punishment,  hence  it 
comes  that  the  pleasure  of  solitude  is  a  thing  incomprehensible. 
And  it  is  the  great  subject  of  happiness  in  the  condition  of  kings, 
that  all  about  them  try  incessantly  to  divert  them,  and  to  procure 
for  them  all  manner  of  pleasures. 

The  king  is  surrounded  by  persons  who  think  only  how  to  divert 
the  king,  and  to  prevent  his  thinking  of  self.  For  he  is  unhappy, 
king  though  he  be,  if  he  think  of  self. 

That  is  all  that  human  ingenuity  can  do  for  human  happiness. 
And  those  who  philosophise  on  the  matter,  and  think  men  un¬ 
reasonable  that  they  pass  a  whole  day  in  hunting  a  hare  which 
they  would  not  have  bought,  scarce  know  our  nature.  The 
hare  itself  would  not  free  us  from  the  view  of  death  and  our 
miseries,  but  the  chase  of  the  hare  does  free  us.  Thus,  when 
we  make  it  a  reproach  that  what  they  seek  with  such  eagerness 
cannot  satisfy  them,  if  they  answered  as  on  mature  judgment  they 
should  do,  that  they  sought  in  it  only  violent  and  impetuous  oc¬ 
cupation  to  turn  their  thoughts  from  self,  and  that  therefore 
they  made  choice  of  an  attractive  object  which  charms  and 
ardently  attracts  them,  they  would  leave  their  adversaries 
without  a  reply.  But  they  do  not  so  answer  because  they  do 
not  know  themselves  ;  they  do  not  know  they  seek  the  chase 
and  not  the  quarry. 

They  fancy  that  were  they  to  gain  such  and  such  an  office 
they  would  then  rest  with  pleasure,  and  are  unaware  of  the  in¬ 
satiable  nature  of  their  desire.  They  believe  they  are  honestly 
seeking  repose,  but  they  are  only  seeking  agitation. 

They  have  a  secret  instinct  prompting  them  to  look  for  diver¬ 
sion  and  occupation  from  without,  which  arises  from  the  sense 


DIVERSION. 


35 


of  their  continual  pain.  They  have  another  secret  instinct,  a 
relic  of  the  greatness  of  our  primitive  nature,  teaching  them  that 
happiness  indeed  consists  in  rest,  and  not  in  turmoil.  And  of 
these  two  contrary  instincts  a  confused  project  is  formed  within 
them,  concealing  itself  from  their  sight  in  the  depths  of  their  soul, 
leading  them  to  aim  at  rest  through  agitation,  and  always  to 
imagine  that  they  will  gain  the  satisfaction  which  as  yet  they 
have  not,  if  by  surmounting  certain  difficulties  which  now  con¬ 
front  them,  they  may  thereby  open  the  door  to  rest. 

Thus  rolls  all  our  life  away.  We  seek  repose  by  resistance  to 
obstacles,  and  so  soon  as  these  are  surmounted,  repose  becomes 
intolerable.  For  we  think  either  on  the  miseries  we  feel  or  on 
those  we  fear.  And  even  when  we  seem  sheltered  on  all  sides, 
weariness,  of  its  own  accord,  will  spring  from  the  depths  of  the 
heart  wherein  are  its  natural  roots,  and  fill  the  soul  with  its 
poison. 

The  counsel  given  to  Pyrrhus  to  take  the  rest  of  which  he  was 
going  in  search  through  so  many  labours,  was  full  of  difficulties. 

A  gentleman  sincerely  believes  that  the  chase  is  a  great,  and 
even  a  royal  sport,  but  his  whipper-in  does  not  share  his 
opinion. 

Dancing. — We  must  think  where  to  place  our  feet. 

But  can  you  say  what  object  he  has  in  all  this  ?  The  plea¬ 
sure  of  boasting  to-morrow  among  his  friends  that  he  has  played 
better  than  another.  Thus  others  sweat  in  their  closets  to 
prove  to  the  learned  world  that  they  have  solved  an  algebraical 
problem  hitherto  insoluble,  while  many  more  expose  themselves 
to  the  greatest  perils,  in  my  judgment  as  foolishly,  for  the 
glory  of  taking  a  town.  Again,  others  kill  themselves,  by  their 
very  application  to  all  these  studies,  not  indeed  that  they  may 
grow  wiser,  but  simply  to  prove  that  they  know  them  ;  these 
are  the  most  foolish  of  the  band,  because  they  are  so  wittingly, 
whereas  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  of  the  others,  that  were  they 
but  aware  of  it,  they  would  give  over  their  folly. 

A  man  passes  his  life  without  weariness  in  playing  every  day 


36 


DIVERSION. 


for  a  small  stake.  Give  him  each  morning,  on  condition  he  does 
not  play,  the  money  he  might  possibly  win,  and  you  make  him 
miserable.  It  will  be  said,  perhaps,  that  he  seeks  the  amuse¬ 
ment  of  play,  and  not  the  winnings.  Make  him  then  play  for 
nothing,  he  will  not  be  excited  over  it,  and  will  soon  be  wearied. 
Mere  diversion  then  is  not  his  pursuit,  a  languid  and  passion¬ 
less  amusement  wall  weary  him.  He  must  grow’  warm  in  it,  and 
cheat  himself  by  thinking  that  he  is  made  happy  by  gaining 
what  he  would  despise  if  it  wrere  given  him  not  to  play ;  and 
must  frame  for  himself  a  subject  of  passion  and  excitement  to 
employ  his  desire,  his  wrath,  his  fear,  as  children  are  frightened 
at  a  face  themselves  have  daubed. 

Whence  comes  it  that  a  man  who  within  a  few  months  has 
lost  his  only  son,  or  who  this  morning  was  overwhelmed  with 
law  suits  and  w'rangling,  now  thinks  of  them  no  more  ?  Be 
not  surprised  ;  he  is  altogether  taken  up  with  looking  out 
for  the  boar  which  his  hounds  have  been  hunting  so  hotly 
for  the  last  six  hours.  He  needs  no  more.  However  full  of 
sadness  a  man  may  be,  he  is  happy  for  the  time,  if  you  can 
only  get  him  to  enter  into  some  diversion.  And  however 
happy  a  man  may  be,  he  will  soon  become  dispirited  and  mise¬ 
rable  if  he  be  not  diverted  and  occupied  by  some  passion  or 
pursuit  which  hinders  his  being  overcome  by  weariness.  With¬ 
out  diversion  no  joy,  with  diversion  no  sadness.  And  this 
forms  the  happiness  of  persons  in  high  position,  that  they  have 
a  number  of  people  to  divert  them,  and  that  they  have  the 
power  to  keep  themselves  in  this  state. 

Take  heed  to  this.  What  is  it  to  be  superintendant,  chancellor, 
first  president,  but  to  be  in  a  condition  wherein  from  early  morning 
a  vast  number  of  persons  flock  in  from  every  side,  so  as  not  to 
leave  them  an  hour  in  the  day  in  which  they  can  think  of  them¬ 
selves  ?  And  if  they  are  in  disgrace  and  dismissed  to  their 
country  houses,  though  they  want  neither  wealth  nor  retinue 
at  need,  they  yet  are  miserable  and  desolate  because  no  one 
hinders  them  from  thinking  of  themselves. 

Thus  man  is  so  unhappy  that  he  wearies  himself  without 
cause  of  weariness  by  the  peculiar  state  of  his  temperament,  and 
he  is  so  frivolous  that,  being  full  of  a  thousand  essential  causes 


DIVERSION. 


37 


of  weariness,  the  least  thing,  such  as  a  cue  and  a  ball  to  strike 
with  it,  is  enough  to  divert  him.  • 

Diversions. — Men  are  charged  from  infancy  with  the  care 
of  their  honour,  their  fortunes,  and  their  friends,  and  more,  with 
the  care  of  the  fortunes  and  honour  of  their  friends.  They  are 
overwhelmed  with  business,  with  the  study  of  languages  and 
bodily  exercises ;  they  are  given  to  understand  that  they  cannot  be 
happy  unless  their  health,  their  honour,  their  fortune  and  that  of 
their  friends  be  in  good  condition,  and  that  a  single  point  wanting 
will  render  them  unhappy.  Thus  we  give  them  business  and 
occupations  which  harass  them  incessantly  from  the  very  dawn 
of  day.  A  strange  mode,  you  will  say,  of  making  them  happy. 
What  more  could  be  done  to  make  them  miserable  ?  What  could 
be  done?  We  need  only  release  them  from  all  these  cares,  for 
then  they  would  see  themselves  ;  they  would  think  on  what  they 
are,  whence  they  come,  and  whither  they  go,  and  therefore  it 
is  impossible  to  occupy  and  distract  them  too  much.  This  is 
why,  after  having  provided  them  with  constant  business,  if  there 
be  any  time  to  spare  we  urge  them  to  employ  it  in  diversion 
and  in  play,  so  as  to  be  always  fully  occupied. 

How  comes  it  that  this  man,  distressed  at  the  death  of  his 
wife  and  his  only  son,  or  who  has  some  great  and  embarrassing 
law  suit,  is  not  at  this  moment  sad,  and  that  he  appears 
so  free  from  all  painful  and  distressing  thoughts  ?  We  need 
not  be  astonished,  for  a  ball  has  just  been  served  to  him,  and 
he  must  return  it  to  his  opponent.  His  whole  thoughts  are 
fixed  on  taking  it  as  it  falls  from  the  pent-house,  to  win  a  chase  ; 
and  you  cannot  ask  that  he  should  think  on  his  business,  having 
this  other  affair  in  hand.  Here  is  a  care  worthy  of  occupying 
this  great  soul,  and  taking  away  from  him  every  other  thought  of 
the  mind.  This  man,  born  to  know  the  Universe,  to  judge  of  all 
things,  to  rule  a  State,  is  altogether  occupied  and  filled  with  the 
business  of  catching  a  hare.  And  if  he  will  not  abase  himself 
to  this,  and  wishes  always  to  be  highly  strung,  he  will  only  be 
more  foolish  still,  because  he  wishes  to  raise  himself  above 
humanity  ;  yet  when  all  is  said  and  done  he  is  only  a  man, 


DIVERSION. 


that  is  to  say  capable  of  little  and  of  much,  of  all  and  of 
nothing.  He  is  neither  angel  nor  brute,  but  man. 

One  thought  alone  occupies  us,  we  cannot  think  of  two  things 
at  once  ;  a  good  thing  for  us  from  a  worldly  point  of  view,  but 
not  as  regards  God. 

Diversion. — Death  is  easier  to  bear  without  the  thought  of 
it,  than  is  the  thought  of  death  without  danger. 

Diversion. — Men,  unable  to  remedy  death,  sorrow,  and  igno¬ 
rance,  determine,  in  order  to  make  themselves  happy,  not  to 
think  on  these  things. 

Notwithstanding  these  miseries,  man  wishes  to  be  happy,  and 
wishes  for  happiness  only  ;  unable  to  wish  otherwise,  he  knows 
not  how  to  gain  happiness.  For  this  he  must  needs  make  him¬ 
self  immortal ;  but  unable  to  effect  this,  he  sets  himself  to  avoid 
the  thought  of  death. 

The  miseries  of  human  life  are  the  cause  of  all  this  ;  having  a 
perception  of  them  men  take  to  diversion. 

Diversion. — If  man  were  happy  he  would  be  the  more  so 
the  less  he  was  diverted,  like  the  Saints  and  God. 

Yes  :  but  is  not  the  power  of  being  pleased  with  diversion 
in  itself  a  happiness?  No  ;  for  that  comes  from  elsewhere  and 
from  without,  so  it  is  dependent,  and  therefore  liable  to  be 
troubled  by  a  thousand  accidents,  which  make  afflictions 
inevitable. 

Misery. — The  one  thing  which  consoles  us  for  our  miseries  is 
diversion,  yet  this  itself  is  the  greatest  of  our  miseries.  For 
this  it  is  which  mainly  hinders  us  from  thinking  of  ourselves, 
and  which  insensibly  destroys  us.  Without  this  we  should  be 
weary,  and  weariness  would  drive  us  to  seek  a  more  abiding  way 
out  of  it.  But  diversion  beguiles  us  and  leads  us  insensibly 
onward  to  death. 

This  is  all  they  have  been  able  to  discover  to  console  them  in 
so  many  evils.  But  it  is  a  miserable  consolation,  since  it  does  not 


DIVERSION. 


39 


serve  for  the  cure  of  the  evil, but  simply  for  the  concealment  of  it 
for  a  short  time,  and  its  very  concealment  prevents  the  thought  of 
any  true  cure.  Thus  by  a  strange  inversion  of  man’s  nature  he 
finds  that  the  weariness  which  is  his  most  sensible  evil,  is  in 
some  measure  his  greatest  good,  because  more  than  any  thing 
thing  else  it  contributes  to  make  him  seek  his  true  healing,  and 
that  the  diversion  which  he  regards  as  his  greatest  good  is  in 
fact  his  greatest  evil,  because  more  than  any  thing  else  it  prevents 
his  seeking  the  remedy  for  his  evils.  Both  of  these  are  admirable 
proofs  of  man’s  misery  and  corruption,  and  at  the  same  time 
of  his  greatness,  since  man  is  only  weary  of  all  things,  and  only 
seeks  this  multitude  of  occupations  because  he  has  the 
idea  of  a  lost  happiness.  And  not  finding  this  in  himself, 
he  seeks  it  vainly  in  external  things,  without  being  able  to  con¬ 
tent  himself,  because  it  is  neither  in  us,  nor  in  the  creature,  but 
in  God  alone. 

Thoughts. — In  omnibus  requiem  qucesivi. 

Were  our  condition  truly  happy  we  need  not  turn  our  minds 
from  it  in  order  to  become  happy. 

A  little  matter  consoles  us,  because  a  little  matter  afflicts  us. 

Strife  alone  pleases  us  and  not  the  victory.  We  like  to  see 
beasts  fighting,  not  the  victor  furious  over  the  vanquished.  We 
wish  only  to  see  the  victorious  end,  and  as  soon  as  it  comes, 
we  are  surfeited.  It  is  the  same  in  play,  and  in  the  search  for 
truth.  In  all  disputes  we  like  to  see  the  clash  of  opinions,  but 
care  not  at  all  to  contemplate  truth  when  found.  If  we  are  to 
see  truth  with  pleasure,  we  must  see  it  arise  out  of  conflict. 

So  in  the  passions,  there  is  pleasure  in  seeing  the  shock  of 
two  contraries,  but  as  soon  as  one  gains  the  mastery  it  becomes 
mere  brutality.  We  never  seek  things  in  themselves,  but  only 
the  search  for  things.  So  on  the  stage,  quiet  scenes  which  raise 
no  emotion  are  worthless,  so  is  extreme  and  hopeless  misery,  so 
are  brutal  lust  and  excessive  cruelty. 

Continuous  eloquence  wearies. 

Princes  and  kings  sometimes  unbend.  They  are  not  for  ever 


40 


DIVERSION. 


on  their  thrones,  where  they  grow  weary.  Grandeur  to  be  felt 
must  be  abandoned,  continuity  in  any  thing  is  displeasing.  Cold 
is  pleasant,  that  we  may  seek  warmth. 

Weariness. —  Nothing  is  so  insupportable  to  man  as  to  be 
completely  at  rest,  without  passion,  without  business,  without 
diversion,  without  study.  He  then  feels  his  nothingness,  his 
loneliness,  his  insufficiency,  his  dependence,  his  weakness,  his 
emptiness. 

At  once,  from  the  depth  of  his  soul,  will  arise  weariness, 
gloom,  sadness,  vexation,  disappointment,  despair. 

Agitation.— rWhen  a  soldier  complains  of  his  work,  or  a 
ploughman,  etc.,  force  them  to  be  idle. 

Diversion. — Is  not  the  royal  dignity  itself  so  truly  great  as  to 
make  its  possessor  happy  by  the  mere  contemplation  of  what  he 
is  ?  Must  he  be  diverted  from  this  thought  like  ordinary  people  ? 
I  see  well  enough  that  a  man  may  be  made  happy  by  diverting  him 
from  the  thought  of  his  domestic  sorrows  so  that  he  apply  all  his 
care  to  excel  in  dancing.  But  will  it  be  the  same  with  a  king, 
and  will  he  be  happier  if  he  devote  himself  to  these  idle  amuse¬ 
ments  rather  than  to  the  contemplation  of  his  greatness  ?  And 
what  more  satisfactory  object  can  he  offer  to  his  mind?  Might 
it  not  be  to  lessen  his  content  that  he  occupy  his  soul  in  thinking 
how  to  suit  his  steps  to  the  cadence  of  an  air,  or  how  to  throw  a 
bar  skilfully,  rather  than  allow  it  to  enjoy  peacefully  the  contem¬ 
plation  of  the  majesty  which  wraps  him  round  ?  Let  us  make 
the  experiment,  let  us  leave  a  king  all  alone,  without  any 
gratifications  of  sense,  or  any  occupation  for  the  mind,  with¬ 
out  companions,  reflecting  on  himself  at  leisure,  and  it  will  be 
seen  that  a  king  without  diversion  is  a  man  full  of  miseries. 
This  is  therefore  carefully  avoided,  and  there  are  always  about 
the  persons  of  kings  a  great  number  of  people  who  watch  to  see 
that  diversion  succeeds  to  business,  and  look  after  their  every 
hour  of  leisure  to  furnish  them  with  pleasures  and  games,  so  that 
no  vacancy  may  be  left  in  life  ;  that  is,  they  are  surrounded  with 
persons  who  take  wonderful  pains  that  the  king  is  never  alone 


DIVERSION. 


4i 


and  able  to  think  of  self,  knowing  well  that  he  will  be  miserable, 
king  though  he  is,  if  he  think  of  self. 

In  all  this  I  am  not  speaking  of  Christian  kings  as  Christians, 
but  simply  as  kings. 

Men  busy  themselves  in  pursuing  a  ball  or  a  hare,  and  this 
is  the  pleasure  even  of  kings. 

Caesar,  as  it  seems  to  me,  was  too  old  to  set  about  amusing 
himself  with  the  conquest  of  the  world.  Such  a  pastime  was 
good  for  Augustus  or  Alexander,  who  were  still  young  men, 
and  these  are  difficult  to  restrain,  but  Caesar  should  have  been 
more  mature. 

The  weariness  we  experience  in  leaving  occupations  to  which 
we  are  attached.  A  man  lives  with  pleasure  in  his  home,  but  if 
he  see  a  woman  who  charms  him,  or  if  he  take  pleasure  in  play 
for  five  or  six  days,  he  is  miserable  if  he  return  to  his  former 
mode  of  life.  Nothing  is  more  common  than  that. 

Frivolity. —  It  is  plain  that  the  frivolity  of  the  world  is  so  little 
known,  that  it  is  a  strange  and  surprising  thing  to  say  it  is 
foolish  to  seek  for  greatness,  and  this  is  great  cause  for  wonder. 

Whoso  does  not  see  the  frivolity  of  the  world  is  himself  most 
frivolous.  And  indeed  all  see  it  save  young  people,  who  are 
engaged  in  turmoil,  diversion,  and  the  thought  of  the  future. 
But  take  away  their  diversion  and  you  will  see  them  consumed 
with  weariness  ;  then  they  feel  their  nothingness  without  know¬ 
ing  it.  For  it  is  indeed  to  be  unhappy  to  be  intolerably  sad 
as  soon  as  we  are  reduced  to  the  thought  of  self,  without  any 
diversion. 


THE  GREATNESS  AND  LITTLENESS 

OF  MAN. 


GREATNESS,  Littleness. — The  more  light  we  have,  the  more 
greatness  and  the  more  baseness  we  discover  in  man. 

Ordinary  men  .  .  . 

The  more  cultivated  .  .  . 

Philosophers. 

They  astonish  ordinary  men. 

Christians.  They  astonish  Philosophers. 

Who  then  will  be  surprised  to  see  that  Religion  only  makes 
us  know  deeply  what  we  already  know  in  proportion  to  our 
light. 


For  Port  Royal.  Greatness  and  Littleness. 

Littleness  being  correlative  to  greatness,  and  greatness  to 
littleness,  some  have  inferred  man’s  littleness  all  the  more  be¬ 
cause  they  have  taken  his  greatness  as  a  proof  of  it,  and  others 
have  inferred  his  greatness  with  all  the  more  force,  because  they 
have  inferred  it  from  his  littleness  ;  all  that  the  one  party  was 
able  to  say  for  his  greatness  having  served  only  as  an  argument 
of  his  littleness  to  others,  because  we  are  low  in  proportion  to 
the  height  from  which  we  have  fallen,  and  the  contrary  is  equally 
true.  So  that  the  one  party  returns  on  the  other  in  an  endless 
circle,  for  it  is  certain  that  in  measure  as  men  possess  light  the 
more  they  discern  both  the  greatness  and  the  littleness  of  man. 
In  a  word,  man  knows  he  is  little.  He  is  then  little  because  he 
is  so  ;  but  he  is  truly  great  because  he  knows  it. 

Man  knows  not  in  what  rank  to  place  himself.  He  has 


44 


THE  GREATNESS  AND 


evidently  gone  astray  and  fallen  from  his  true  place,  unable  to 
find  it  again.  Disquieted  and  unsuccessful  he  seeks  it  everywhere 
in  impenetrable  darkness. 

Though  we  see  all  the  miseries  which  close  upon  us  and 
take  us  by  the  throat,  we  have  an  irrepressible  instinct  which 
raises  us. 

The  greatness  of  Man. — We  have  so  great  an  idea  of  the  human 
soul  that  we  cannot  bear  to  be  despised,  or  to  lie  under  the  dis- 
esteem  of  any  soul,  and  all  the  happiness  of  men  consists  in  that 
esteem. 

The  search  after  glory  is  the  greatest  vileness  of  man. 
Yet  it  is  also  the  greatest  mark  of  his  excellence,  for  whatever 
riches  he  may  have  on  earth,  whatever  health  and  advantage,  he 
is  not  satisfied  if  he  have  not  the  esteem  of  men.  He  rates 
human  reason  so  highly  that  whatever  privileges  he  may  have 
on  earth,  he  is  not  content  unless  he  stand  well  in  the  judgment 
of  men.  This  is  the  finest  position  in  the  world,  nothing  can 
turn  him  from  this  desire,  which  is  the  most  indelible  quality  of 
the  human  heart. 

And  those  who  most  despise  men,  and  place  them  on  the 
level  of  the  brutes,  still  wish  to  be  admired  and  believed 
by  men,  and  are  in  contradiction  with  themselves  through  their 
own  feelings  ;  their  natqre,  which  is  stronger  than  all  else, 
convincing  them  of  the  greatness  of  man  more  powerfully  than 
reason  convinces  them  of  their  vileness. 

The  vileness  of  man  in  that  he  submits  himself  to  the  brutes, 
and  even  worships  them. 

Instinct  and  reason,  marks  of  two  natures. 

Description  of  man.  Dependence,  desire  of  independence, 
bodily  needs. 

Contradiction.  To  despise  existence,  to  die  for  nothing,  to 
hate  our  existence. 


LITTLENESS  OF  MAN. 


45 


Man  is  neither  angel  nor  brute,  and  the  misfortune  is  that 
whoever  would  play  the  angel  plays  the  brute. 

If  man  is  not  made  for  God,  why  is  he  happy  only  in  God  ? 

If  man  is  made  for  God,  why  is  he  so  contrary  to  God? 

Contraries.  Man  is  naturally  credulous  and  incredulous, 
timid  and  rash. 

A  corj'upt  nature. — Man  does  not  act  by  reason,  which 
constitutes  his  essence. 

The  nature  of  man  is  his  whole  nature,  o?nne  animal. 

There  is  nothing  we  cannot  make  natural,  nothing  natural  we 
cannot  lose. 

The  true  nature  being  lost,  all  becomes  natural.  As  the  true 
good  being  lost,  all  becomes  truly  good. 

Misery. — Solomon  and  Job  best  knew,  and  have  best  spoken 
of  human  misery  ;  the  former  the  most  fortunate,  the  latter  the 
most  unfortunate  of  men  ;  the  one  knowing  by  experience  the 
vanity  of  pleasure,  the  other  the  reality  of  evil.  ♦ 


It  is  dangerous  to  prove  to  man  too  plainly  how  nearly  he  is 
on  a  level  with  the  brutes  without  showing  him  his  greatness  ; 
it  is  also  dangerous  to  show  him  his  greatness  too  clearly 
apart  from  his  vileness.  It  is  still  more  dangerous  to  leave  him 
in  ignorance  of  both.  But  it  is  of  great  advantage  to  show  him 
both. 


How  comes  it  that  we  have  so  much  patience  with  those  who 
are  maimed  in  body,  and  so  little  with  those  who  are  defective 
in  mind  ?  Because  a  cripple  recognises  that  we  have  the  true 
use  of  our  legs,  but  the  fool  maintains  that  we  are  they  whose 
understanding  halts  ;  were  it  not  so  we  should  feel  pity  and  not 
anger. 

Epictetus  puts  it  yet  more  strongly  :  if  How  comes  it  that  we 


46 


THE  GREATNESS  AND 


are  not  angry  if  a  man  says  we  have  an  headache,  but  are  angry 
if  told  we  use  a  weak  argument  or  make  a  wrong  choice  ?  ”  The 
reason  of  this  is  that  wre  are  quite  certain  we  have  no  headache, 
or  are  not  lame,  but  we  are  not  equally  sure  that  our  judgment  is 
correct.  So  having  no  assurance  but  that  we  see  with  our 
whole  powers  of  sight,  we  are  startled  and  confounded  when 
another  with  equal  powers  sees  the  exact  opposite,  especially 
when  a  thousand  others  laugh  at  our  decision  ;  for  then  we  must 
prefer  our  light  to  that  of  so  many  others,  a  daring  and  difficult 
matter.  There  is  never  this  contradiction  in  feeling  as  to  a 
cripple. 

Man  is  so  framed  that  by  dint  of  telling  him  he  is  a  fool  he 
believes  it,  and  by  dint  of  telling  it  to  himself  he  makes  himself 
believe  it.  For  man  holds  a  secret  communing  with  himself, 
which  it  behoves  him  well  to  regulate  :  Corrumpunt  mores  bonos 
eolloquia  prava.  We  must  keep  silent  as  much  as  possible,  and 
converse  with  ourselves  only  of  God,  whom  we  know  to  be  true, 
and  thus  we  persuade  ourselves  of  truth. 

I  will  not  suffer  him  to  rest  on  himself,  nor  on  another,  so  that 
being  without  a  resting  place  or  repose  .  .  . 

If  he  exalt  himself  I  humble  him,  if  he  humble  himself  I 
exalt  him,  and  ever  contradict  him,  till  he  comprehend  that 
he  is  an  incomprehensible  monster. 

•  V 

The  greatness  of  man  consists  in  thought. 

A  thinking  reed. — Not  from  space  must  I  seek  my  dignity, 
but  from  the  ruling  of  my  thought.  I  should  have  no  more  if 
I  possessed  whole  worlds.  By  space  the  Universe  encompasses 
and  swallows  me  as  an  atom,  by  thought  I  encompass  it. 

Man  is  but  a  reed,  weakest  in  nature,  but  a  reed  which 
thinks.  It  needs  not  that  the  whole  Universe  should  arm  to 
crush  him.  A  vapour,  a  drop  of  water  is  enough  to  kill  him. 
But  were  the  Universe  to  crush  him,  man  would  still  be  more 
noble  than  that  which  has  slain  him,  because  he  knows  that  he 


LITTLENESS  OF  MAN 


47 


dies,  and  that  the  Universe  has  the  better  of  him.  The  Universe 
knows  nothing  of  this. 

All  our  dignity  therefore  consists  in  thought.  By  this  musfev 
we  raise  ourselves,  not  by  space  or  duration  which  we  cannot 
fill.  Then  let  us  make  it  our  study  to  think  well,  for  this  is  the 
starting-point  of  morals. 

The  greatness  of  man  is  great  in  that  he  knows  he  is  miserable. 

A  tree  does  not  know  that  it  is  miserable. 

It  is  therefore  little  to  know  ourselves  little,  and  it  is  great  to 
know  ourselves  little.  ' 

Thus  his  very  infirmities  proves  man’s  greatness.  They  are 
the  infirmities  of  a  great  lord,  of  a  discrowned  king. 

The  greatness  of  man  is  so  evident  that  it  is  even  proved  by 
feis-littleness.  For  what  in  animals  is  nature  we  call  in  man  lit-  * 
tleness,  whereby  we  recognise  that  his  nature  being  now  like  that 
of  animals  he  is  fallen  from  a  better  nature  which  once  was  his. 

F or  what  man  ever  was  unhappy  at  not  being  a  king,  save  a  dis¬ 
crowned  king  ?  Was  Paulus  Emilius  unhappy  at  being  no  longer 
consul  ?  On  the  contrary,  all  men  thought  him  happy  in  having 
filled  that  office,  because  it  was  involved  in  it  that  it  should  be 
but  temporary.  But  Perseus  was  thought  so  unhappy  in  being 
no  longer  king,  because  the  condition  of  royalty  involved  his 
being  always  king,  that  it  was  thought  strange  he  could  bear 
to  live.  No  man  thinks  himself  unhappy  in  having  but  one 
mouth,  but  any  man  is  unhappy  if  he  have  but  one  eye.  No  man 
was  ever  grieved  at  not  having  three  eyes,  but  any  man  is 
inconsolable  if  he  have  none. 

Perseus,  King  of  Macedon. — Paulus  Emilius  reproached 
Perseus  for  not  killing  himself. 

There  is  no  misery  apart  from  sensation.  A  ruined  house  is 
not  miserable.  Man  only  is  miserable.  Ego  vir  videns. 

It  is  then  thought  which  makes  man’sbeing,  and  without  this  we 


48 


THE  GREATNESS  AND 


cannot  conceive  him.  What  is  it  in  us  which  feels  pleasure? 
The  hand  ?  The  arm  ?  The  flesh  ?  The  blood  ?  We  see  that  it 
must  be  something  immaterial. 

I  can  easily  conceive  a  man  without  hands,  feet,  head,  for  it 
is  only  experience  which  teaches  us  that  the  head  is  more 
necessary  than  the  feet.  But  I  cannot  conceive  a  man  without 
thought  ;  he  would  be  a  stone  or  a  brute. 

Man  is  evidently  made  for  thought,  this  is  his  whole  dignity 
and  his  whole  merit  ;  his  whole  duty  is  to  think  as  he  ought. 
Now  the  order  of  thought  is  to  begin  with  self,  and  with  its 
author  and  its  end. 

Now  of  what  thinks  the  world  ?  Never  of  these  things,  but  of 
dancing,  playing  the  lute,  singing,  making  verses,  tilting  at 
the  ring,  etc.,  of  fighting,  making  ourselves  kings,  without 
thinking  what  it  is  to  be  a  king,  or  what  to  be  a  man. 

Thought. — The  whole  dignity  of  man  lies  in  thought.  But 
what  is  this  thought  ?  how  foolish  it  is  ! 

Thought  is  then  in  its  nature  admirable  and  incomparable. 
It  must  have  strange  defects  to  be  despicable,  but  it  has  these, 
and  so  nothing  is  more  ridiculous. 

How  great  it  is  in  essence,  how  vile  in  defects  ! 

Contraries.  A fter  having  shown  the  vileness  and  the  great¬ 
ness  of  man. — Let  man  now  estimate  his  value.  Let  him  love 
himself,  because  he  has  a  nature  capable  of  good,  but  let  him  not 
therefore  love  the  vileness  which  exists  in  that  nature.  Let 
him  despise  himself,  because  this  capacity  is  void,  but  let  him 
not  therefore  despise  his  natural  capacity.  Let  him  hate  him¬ 
self,  let  him  love  himself :  he  has  in  himself  the  power  of  know¬ 
ing  the  truth  and  being  happy,  and  yet  has  found  no  truth 
either  permanent  or  satisfactory. 

I  would  then  lead  man  to  the  desire  of  finding  it  ;  to  be  free 
from  passions  and  ready  to  follow  it  where  he  may  find  it, 
knowing  how  his  knowledge  is  obscured  by  the  passions.  I 


LITTLENESS  OF  MAN. 


49 


would  that  he  should  hate  in  himself  the  desires  which  bias  his 
judgment,  that  they  may  neither  blind  him  in  making  his  choice, 
nor  obstruct  him  when  he  has  chosen. 

I  blame  equally  those  who  take  on  themselves  to  praise 
man,  those  who  take  on  themselves  to  blame  him,  and  those  who 
merely  amuse  themselves ;  I  can  approve  those  only  who  seek 
with  tears. 

The  stoics  say,  Retire  within  yourselves,  there  will  you  find 
your  rest ;  ”  which  is  not  true.  Others  say,  “  Go  out  of  yourselves, 
seek  your  happiness  in  diversion  nor  is  that  true,  for  sickness 
may  come. 

Happiness  is  neither  without  us  nor  within  us  ;  it  is  in  God, 
both  without  us  and  within  us. 


E 


OF  THE  DECEPTIVE  POWERS  OF 
THE  IMAGINATION. 

Of  the  deceptive  powers. — Man  is  only  a  subject  full  of  natural 
error,  which  is  indelible  without  grace.  Nothing  shows  him  the 
truth,  everything  deceives  him.  These  two  principles  of  truth, 
reason  and  the  senses,  in  addition  to  the  fact  that  they  are  both 
wanting  in  sincerity,  reciprocally  deceive  each  other.  The  senses 
trick  the  reason  by  false  appearances,  and  gain  from  reason  in 
their  turn  the  same  deception  with  which  they  deceive  ;  reason 
avenges  herself.  The  passions  of  the  soul  trouble  the  senses, 
and  make  on  them  false  impressions.  They  lie  and  deceive, 
outvieing  one  another. 

But  beyond  those  errors  which  come  by  accident,  and  by  a 
lack  of  intelligence,  with  these  heterogeneous  faculties  .  . 
To  begin  thus  the  chapter  on  the  deceptive  powers. 

Imagination. — This  is  that  deceitful  part  of  man,  the  mistress 
of  error  and  falsity,  the  more  knavish  that  she  is  not  always 
so,  for  she  would  be  an  infallible  rule  of  truth,  if  she  were  an  in¬ 
fallible  rule  of  lying.  But  being  for  the  most  part  false,  she 
gives  no  mark  of  her  character,  stamping  the  true  and  the  false 
with  the  same  die. 

I  speak  not  of  fools,  but  of  the  wisest  men,  and  it  is  among 
them  that  imagination  has  the  great  gift  of  persuasion.  Reason 
protests  in  vain,  for  she  can  make  no  true  estimate. 

This  proud  potentate,  who  loves  to  rule  and  domineer  over  her 
enemy,  reason,  has  established  in  man  a  second  nature  in  order 
to  showTTer  wide-spread  influence.  She  makes  men  happy  and 
miserable,  sound  and  sick,  rich  and  poor  ;  she  obliges  reason  to 
believe,  doubt  and  deny  ;  she  dulls  the  senses,  or  sharpens 


library 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


52 


THE  DECEPTIVE  POWERS 


them  ;  she  has  her  fools  and  wise  ;  and  nothing  vexes  us  more 
than  to  see  that  she  fills  her  votaries  with  a  satisfaction  far  more 
full  and  entire  than  does  reason.  Those  whose  imagination  is 
active  feel  greater  complacency  than  the  truly  wise  can  reasonably 
allow  themselves  to  feel.  They  look  down  on  other  men  as  from 
the  height  of  empire,  they  argue  with  assurance  and  confidence, 
others  with  diffidence  and  fear,  and  this  gaiety  of  countenance 
often  gives  the  former  an  advantage  in  the  minds  of  their 
hearers  ;  such  favour  do  the  imaginary  wise  find  from  judges  like- 
minded.  Imagination  cannot  make  fools  wise,  but  it  makes  them 
content,  and  so  triumphs  over  reason,  which  can  only  make  its 
friends  miserable  ;  the  one  covers  them  with  glory,  the  other 
with  shame. 

What  but  this  faculty  of  imagination  dispenses  reputation, 
assigns  respect  and  veneration  to  persons,  works,  laws,  and  the 
great  ?  How  valueless  are  all  the  treasures  of  earth  without  her 
consent  ! 

You  would  say  that  this  magistrate  whose  reverend  age  com¬ 
mands  the  respect  of  a  whole  people  is  swayed  by  pure  and  lofty 
reason,  that  he  judges  all  causes  according  to  their  true  nature, 
unmoved  by  those  mere  accidents  which  only  affect  the  imagi¬ 
nation  of  the  weak.  See  him  go  to  sermon  with  devout  zeal, 
strengthening  his  firm  and  impartial  reason  by  the  ardour  of  his 
divine  love.  He  is  ready  to  listen  with  exemplary  respect.  The 
preacher  appears  ;  but  if  nature  have  given  him  a  hoarse  voice  or 
a  comic  face,  if  his  barber  have  shaven  him  ill,  or  if  his  clothes 
be  splashed  more  than  is  wont,  then  however  great  the  truths  he 
announces,  I  wager  that  our  statesman  lose  his  gravity. 

Set  the  greatest  philosopher  in  the  world  on  a  plank  really 
wider  than  he  needs,  but  hanging  over  a  precipice,  and  though 
reason  convince  him  of  his  security,  imagination  will  prevail. 
Many  will  scarce  bear  the  thought  without  a  cold  sweat. 

I  will  not  name  all  its  effects.  Every  one  knows  that  the  sight 
of  cats,  and  rats,  or  the  crushing  of  a  coal,  etc.,  may  quite  unhinge 
the  reason.  The  tone  of  voice  will  affect  the  wisest  and  change 
the  whole  force  of  a  speech  or  a  poem. 

Love  or  hate  will  change  the  aspect  of  justice,  and  an 
advocate  retained  with  a  large  fee  has  an  increased  confidence 


OF  THE  IMAGINATION. 


53 


in  the  right  of  the  cause  he  pleads,  while  the  assurance  of  his 
demeanour  commends  it  to  the  judges,  duped  in  their  turn  by 
appearances.  How  ridiculous  is  reason,  swayed  by  a  breath 
in  every  direction  ! 

I  should  have  to  enumerate  almost  every  action  of  men  who 
seldom  stagger  but  under  her  shocks.  For  reason  has  been  forced 
to  yield,  and  the  wisest  reason  accepts  as  her  own  those  prin¬ 
ciples  which  the  imagination  of  men  has  everywhere  casually 
introduced. 

Our  magistrates  are  well  aware  of  this  mystery.  Their  scarlet 
robes,  the  ermine  in  which  they  wrap  themselves  like  furred  cats, 
the  halls  in  which  they  administer  justice,  the  fleurs-de-lis ,  and 
all  their  august  apparatus  are  most  necessary  ;  if  the  doctors  had 
not  their  cassocks  and  their  mules,  if  the  lawyers  had  not  their 
square  caps,  and  their  robes  four  times  too  wide,  they  would 
never  have  duped  the  world,  which  cannot  resist  so  authoritative 
an  appearance.  Soldiers  alone  are  not  disguised  after  this 
fashion,  because  indeed  their  part  is  the  more  essential,  they 
establish  themselves  by  force,  the  others  by  fraud. 

So  our  kings  seek  out  no  disguises.  They  do  not  mask  them¬ 
selves  in  strange  garments  to  appear  such,  but  they  are  accom¬ 
panied  by  guards  and  halberdiers.  Those  armed  puppets  who 
have  hands  and  power  for  them  alone,  those  trumpets  and  drums 
which  go  before  them,  and  those  legions  round  about  them, 
make  the  firmest  tremble.  They  have  not  dress  only,  but  power ; 
we  need  an  highly  refined  reason  to  regard  as  an  ordinary  man 
the  Grand  Turk,  in  his  superb  seraglio,  surrounded  with  forty 
thousand  janissaries. 

We  cannot  even  see  an  advocate  in  his  long  robe  and  with 
his  cap  on  his  head,  without  an  enhanced  opinion  of  his  ability. 

If  magistrates  had  true  justice,  and  if  doctors  had  the  true 
art  of  healing,  they  would  have  no  need  of  square  caps,  the 
majesty  of  these  sciences  were  of  itself  venerable  enough.  But 
having  only  imaginary  knowledge,  they  must  take  these  instru¬ 
ments,  idle,  but  striking  to  the  imagination  with  which  they  have 
to  deal,  and  by  that  in  fact  they  gain  respect. 

Imagination  is  the  disposer  of  all  things,  it  creates  beauty,  jus¬ 
tice  and  happiness,  and  these  are  the  world’s  all.  I  should  much 


54 


THE  DECEPTIVE  POWERS 


like  to  see  an  Italian  work,  of  which  I  know  the  title  only,  but 
such  a  title  is  worth  many  books  :  Della  opinione  Regina  del 
inondo.  I  accept  the  book  without  knowing  it,  save  the  evil  in  it, 
if  there  be  any. 

These  are  for  the  most  part  the  effects  of  that  deceptive 
faculty,  which  seems  to  have  been  given  us  expressly  to  lead 
us  into  necessary  error.  Of  error  however  we  have  many  other 
sources. 

Not  only  are  old  impressions  capable  of  deceiving  us,  the 
charms  of  novelty  have  the  same  power.  Hence  arise  all  the 
disputes  of  men,  who  charge  each  other  either  with  follow¬ 
ing  the  false  impressions  of  childhood  or  of  running  rashly 
after  new.  Who  rightly  keeps  a  middle  way?  Let  him  ap¬ 
pear  and  make  good  his  pretensions.  There  is  no  principle, 
however  natural  to  us  even  from  childhood,  which  may  not 
be  made  to  pass  for  a  false  impression  either  of  education  or 
of  sense. 

“  Because,”  say  some,  “  you  have  believed  from  childhood  that 
a  box  was  empty  when  you  saw  nothing  in  it,  you  have  therefore 
believed  the  possibility  of  a  vacuum.  This  is  an  illusion  of  your 
senses,  strengthened  by  custom,  which  science  must  correct.” 
“  Because,”  say  others,  “  you  were  taught  at  school  that  there 
is  no  such  thing  as  a  vacuum,  your  common  sense,  which  clearly 
comprehended  the  matter  before,  is  corrupted,  and  you  must 
correct  this  false  impression  by  returning  to  your  primitive 
nature.”  Which  has  deceived  you,  your  senses  or  your  education  ? 

Diseases  are  another  source  of  error.  They  impair  our 
judgment  and  our  senses,  and  if  the  more  violent  produce  a 
sensible  change,  I  do  not  doubt  that  slighter  ailments  produce 
each  its  proportionate  impression. 

Our  own  interest  is  again  a  wonderful  instrument  for  putting  out 
our  eyes  in  a  pleasant  way.  The  man  of  greatest  probity  can 
not  be  judge  in  his  own  cause ;  I  know  some  who  that  they 
may  not  fall  into  this  self  love  are,  out  of  opposition,  thoroughly 
unjust.  The  certain  way  of  ruining  a  just  cause  has  been  to 
get  it  recommended  to  these  men  by  their  near  relatives. 

Justice  and  truth  are  two  such  subtle  points,  that  our  instru¬ 
ments  are  too  blunt  to  touch  them  accurately.  If  they  attain 


OF  THE  IMAGINATION.  55 

the  point  they  cover  it  so  completely  that  they  rest  more  often 
on  the  wrong  than  the  right. 

There  is  internecine  war  in  man  between  the  reason  and  the 
passions. 

If  he  had  only  reason  without  passions  .  .  . 

If  he  had  only  passions  without  reason  .  .  . 

But  having  both  he  must  have  continual  strife,  since  he  cannot 
be  at  peace  with  one  unless  he  be  at  war  with  the  other.  Hence 
he  is  always  divided  against  and  contrary  to  himself. 

The  habit  of  seeing  kings  accompanied  by  guards,  drums, 
officers  and  all  those  things  which  mechanically  incline  man 
to  respect  and  terror,  causes  their  countenance,  when  now  and 
then  seen  alone,  and  without  these  accompaniments,  to  impress 
respect  and  terror  on  their  subjects,  because  our  thought  cannot 
separate  their  personality  from  those  surroundings  with  which 
it  is  ordinarily  joined.  And  the  world  which  does  not  know  that 
the  effect  arises  from  habit,  believes  that  it  arises  from  natural 
force,  and  hence  come  such  expressions  as  :  “  The  character  of 
Divinity  is  imprinted  on  his  countenance,”  etc. 

The  power  of  kings  is  based  both  on  the  reason  and  the  folly 
of  the  people,  and  mainly  on  their  folly.  The  greatest  and  most 
important  matter  in  the  world  has  weakness  for  its  foundation, 
and  this  foundation  is  admirably  sure,  for  there  is  nothing  more 
sure  than  this,  that  the  people  will  be  weak.  What  is  founded 
on  sound  reason  is  very  ill  founded,  as  the  value  of  wisdom. 

The  chancellor  is  grave,  and  clothed  with  ornaments,  for  his 
position  is  unreal.  Not  so  the  king,  he  has  power  and  nothing 
to  do  with  imagination.  Judges,  doctors,  etc.,  depend  solely 
on  imagination. 


Empire  founded  on  opinion  and  imagination  lasts  some  time, 
the  rule  is  gentle  and  willingly  accepted  ;  that  founded  on  power 
lasts  for  ever.  Thus  opinion  is,  as  it  were,  queen  of  the  world, 
but  power  is  its  tyrant. 


THE  DECEPTIVE  POWERS 


c6 


Power  is  the  queen  of  the  world,  not  opinion,  but  opinion  makes 
use  of  power. 

Power  creates  opinion.  Gentleness  is  beautiful,  as  we  think. 
Why  ?  Because  he  who  goes  to  extremes  will  be  alone,  and  I 
will  make  a  stronger  cabal  of  people  who  will  say  it  is  in¬ 
expedient. 

The  cords  attached  by  the  respect  of  man  for  man,  are,  for  the 
most  part,  cords  of  necessity,  for  there  must  be  different  degrees, 
all  men  wishing  to  rule,  but  not  all  being  able  to  do  so,  though 
some  are  able. 

Let  us  suppose  then  we  see  men  beginning  to  form  a  society. 
They  will  no  doubt  fight  till  the  stronger  party  gets  the  better 
of  the  weaker,  and  a  dominant  party  is  constituted.  But  so 
soon  as  this  is  once  settled,  the  masters  not  wishing  that 
the ‘Strife  should  continue,  declare  that  the  power  in  their  hands 
shall  be  transmitted  as  they  please,  some  placing  it  in  the  choice 
of  the  people,  others  in  the  succession  of  birth,  etc. 

And  here  imagination  begins  to  play  her  part.  Till  now  power 
has  constrained  facts,  now  power  is  upheld  by  imagination  in 
a  certain  party,  in  France  that  of  the  nobles,  in  Switzerland  that 
of  the  burgesses,  etc. 

The  cords  therefore  which  bind  the  respect  of  men  to  any  given 
man  are  the  cords  of  imagination. 

Our  imagination  so  enlarges  the  present  by  dint  of  continually 
reflecting  on  it,  and  so  contracts  eternity,  by  never  reflecting  on 
it,  that  we  make  a  nothing  of  eternity  and  an  eternity  of  nothing ; 
and  all  this  has  such  living  roots  in  us,  that  all  our  reason  cannot 
suppress  them,  and  that  ... 

The  imagination  enlarges  little  objects  so  as  to  fill  our  soul 
with  its  fantastic  estimate,  and  by  a  rash  insolence  belittles  the 
great  to  its  own  measure,  as  when  it  speaks  of  God. 


Things  which  have  the  greatest  hold  on  us,  as  the  concealing 


OF  TFIE  IMAGINATION. 


57 


our  small  possessions,  are  often  a  mere  nothing.  It  is  a  nothing 
which  our  imagination  magnifies  into  a  mountain,  another  turn 
of  imagination  would  make  us  discover  its  nothingness  without 
difficulty. 

Two  faces  which  resemble  each  other,  neither  of  which  alone 
causes  our  laughter,  make  us  laugh,  when  together,  by  their 
resemblance. 

Children  who  are  frightened  at  the  face  they  have  daubed  are 
mere  children,  but  how  shall  one  who  is  so  weak  when  a  child 
grow  truly  strong  as  he  grows  old  ?  We  only  change  our  fancies. 

All  that  is  brought  to  perfection  by  progress  perishes  also  by 
progress.  All  that  has  been  weak  can  never  be  absolutely 
strong.  It  is  in  vain  to  say,  a  He  has  grown,  he  has  changed.” 
He  is  also  the  same. 

My  fancy  makes  me  hate  a  man  who  breathes  hard  when  he  is 
eating.  Fancy  has  great  weight.  Will  you  profit  by  yielding 
to  this  weight  because  it  is  natural  ?  No  ;  but  by  resisting  it. 

Prejudice  leading  into  error. — It  is  a  deplorable  thing  to  see 
all  men  deliberating  on  means  alone,  and  not  on  the  end.  Every 
man  thinks  how  he  may  acquit  himself  in  his  condition,  but  as 
for  the  choice  of  condition  or  of  country,  chance  gives  them 
to  us. 

It  is  a  pitiable  thing,  to  see  so  many  Turks,  heretics  and 
infidels,  follow  the  way  of  their  fathers  for  the  simple  reason 
that  each  has  been  told  it  is  the  best.  And  that  fixes  for  each 
man  his  condition,  locksmith,  soldier,  etc. 

Therefore  savages  would  care  nothing  for  Provence. 

Fe?-ox  gens,  nullam  esse  vitam  sine  armis  rati.  They  love 
death  rather  than  peace,  other  men  love  death  rather  than  war. 

Every  opinion  may  be  held  in  preference  to  life,  of  which  the 
love  seems  so  strong  and  so  natural. 

Thoughts. — All  is  one,  all  is  diverse.  How  many  natures  in 
that  of  man,  how  many  vocations  !  And  by  what  a  chance  does 


5* 


THE  DECEPTIVE  POWERS 


each  man  take  ordinarily  what  he  has  heard  praised.  A  well 
turned  heel. 

The  heel  of  a  slipper. — How  well  this  is  turned,  here  is  a  clever 
workman,  how  brave  is  this  soldier  !  Such  is  the  source  of  our 
inclinations  and  of  the  choice  of  conditions.  How  much  this 
man  drinks,  how  little  that  man  !  That  is  what  makes  men 
sober  or  drunken,  soldiers,  cowards,  etc. 

Glory. — Admiration  spoils  everything  from  infancy.  How 
well  said,  how  well  done,  how  clever  he  is  !  etc. 

The  children  of  Port  Royal,  who  are  not  urged  with  this  spur 
of  envy  and  glory,  become  careless. 

Glory. — The  brutes  have  no  admiration  for  each  other.  A  horse 
does  not  admire  his  companion.  Not  but  that  they  have  their 
rivalries  in  a  race,  but  that  entails  no  consequences,  for  once  in 
the  stable  the  heaviest  and  most  ill-formed  does  not  yield  his 
oats  to  another,  as  men  would  expect  from  others  in  their  own 
case.  Their  virtue  is  satisfied  with  itself. 

First  degree  :  to  be  blamed  for  doing  evil,  and  praised  for 
doing  good.  Second  degree  :  to  be  neither  praised  nor  blamed. 

\ 

Brave  deeds  are  most  estimable  when  hidden.  When  I  see 
some  of  these  in  history  they  please  me  much.  But  after  all 
they  have  not  been  wholly  hidden,  since  they  have  become  known. 
And  though  all  has  been  done  to  hide  them  that  could  be  done, 
the  little  whereby  they  have  appeared  has  spoiled  all,  for  what 
was  finest  in  them  was  the  desire  to  hide  them. 

We  are  not  content  with  the  life  we  have  in  ourselves  and  in 
our  own  being,  we  wish  to  live  an  imaginary  life  in  the  idea  of 
others,  and  to  this  end  we  strive  to  make  a  show.  We 
labour  incessantly  to  embellish  and  preserve  this  imaginary 
being,  and  we  neglect  the  true.  And  if  we  have  either  calmness, 
generosity,  or  fidelity,  we  hasten  to  let  it  be  known,  that  we 
may  attach  these  virtues  to  that  imaginary  being  ;  we  would 


OF  THE  IMAGINATION. 


59 


even  part  with  them  for  this  end,  and  gladly  become  cowards 
for  the  reputation  of  valour.  It  is  a  great  mark  of  the  nothing¬ 
ness  of  our  own  being  that  we  are  not  satisfied  with  the  one 
without  the  other,  and  that  we  often  renounce  one  for  the  other. 
For  he  would  be  infamous  wTho  would  not  die  to  preserve  his 
honour. 

Vocations. — The  sweetness  of  glory  is  so  great  that  join  it  to 
what  we  will,  even  to  death,  we  love  it. 

Evil  is  easy,  and  its  forms  are  infinite  ;  good  is  almost  unique. 
But  a  certain  kind  of  evil  is  as  difficult  to  find  as  what  is  called 
good  ;  and  often  on  this  account  this  particular  kind  of  evil  gets 
passed  off  as  good.  There  is  even  needed  an  extraordinary 
greatness  of  soul  to  attain  to  it  as  well  as  to  good. 

We  are  so  presumptuous  that  we  would  fain  be  known  by  the 
whole  world,  even  by  those  who  shall  come  after,  when  we  are  no 
more.  And  we  are  such  triflers  that  the  esteem  of  five  or  six 
persons  about  us  diverts  and  contents  us. 

Vanity  is  so  anchored  in  the  heart  of  man  that  a  soldier,  a 
camp-follower,  a  cook,  a  porter  makes  his  boasts,  and  is  for 
having  his  admirers  ;  even  philosophers  wish  for  them.  Those 
who  write  against  it,  yet  desire  the  glory  of  having  written  well, 
those  who  read,  desire  the  glory  of  having  read  ;  I  who  write  this 
have,  may  be,  this  desire,  and  perhaps  those  who  will  read  it  .  .  . 

In  towns  through  which  we  pass  we  care  not  whether  men 
esteem  us,  but  we  do  care  if  we  have  to  live  there  any  time. 
How  long  is  needed  ?  A  time  in  proportion  to  our  vain  and 
fleeting  life. 

The  condition  of  man  ;  inconstancy,  weariness,  unrest. 

Whoever  will  know  fully  the  vanity  of  man  has  but  to  consider 
the  causes  and  the  effects  of  love.  The  cause  is  an  unknown 
quantity,  and  the  effects  are  terrible.  This  unknown  quantity,  so 


6o  DECEPTIVE  POWERS  OF  THE  IMAGINATION. 


small  a  matter  that  we  cannot  recognise  it,  moves  a  whole 
country,  princes,  armies,  and  all  the  world. 

Cleopatra’s  nose  :  had  it  been  shorter,  the  face  of  the  world 
had  been  changed. 

Nothing  better  shows  the  frivolity  of  men  than  to  consider 
what  are  the  causes  and  what  the  effects  of  love,  for  all  the 
universe  is  changed  by  them.  Cleopatra’s  nose. 

P'rivolity. — The  cause  and  the  effects  of  love.  Cleopatra. 

Pride  is  a  counterpoise,  and  turns  the  scale  against  all  woes. 
Here  is  a  strange  monster,  a  very  visible  aberration.  Behold  him 
fallen  from  his  place,  and  anxiously  seeking  it.  That  is  what 
all  men  do.  Let  us  see  who  has  found  it. 

Contradiction. — Pride  is  a  counterpoise  to  all  miseries.  Man 
either  conceals  them,  or  if  he  display  them,  glories  in  the 
knowledge  of  them. 

Of  the  desire  of  behig  esteemed  by  those  with  whom  we  are. — • 
Pride  has  a  natural  possession  of  us  in  the  midst  of  our  miseries, 
errors,  etc.  We  can  even  lose  our  life  with  joy,  if  men  will  but 
talk  of  it. 

Vanity,  play,  hunting,  visiting,  false  pretences,  a  lasting  name. 

Pride. — Curiosity  is  mere  frivolity.  For  the  most  part  we  want 
to  know  only  for  the  sake  of  talking.  People  would  not  make 
voyages  if  they  were  never  to  speak  of  them,  for  the  sole  pleasure 
of  seeing,  without  hope  of  ever  communicating  their  impressions. 


OF  JUSTICE,  CUSTOMS,  AND  PREJUDICES . 


On  what  shall  man  found  the  economy  of  the  world  which  he 
would  fain  govern  ?  If  on  the  caprice  of  each  man,  all  is 
confusion.  If  on  justice,  man  is  ignorant  of  it. 

Certainly  had  he  known  it,  he  would  not  have  established  the 
maxim,  most  general  of  all  current  among  men,  that  every  one 
must  conform  to  the  manners  of  his  own  country  ;  the  splendour 
of  true  equity  would  have  brought  all  nations  into  subjection, 
and  legislators  would  not  have  taken  as  their  model  the 
fancies  and  caprice  of  Persians  and  Germans  instead  of 
stable  justice.  We  should  have  seen  it  established  in  all  the 
States  of  the  world,  in  all  times,  whereas  now  we  see  neither 
justice  nor  injustice  which  does  not  change  its  quality  upon 
changing  its  climate.  Three  degrees  of  latitude  reverse  all 
jurisprudence,  a  meridian  decides  what  is  truth,  fundamental 
laws  change  after  a  few  years  of  possession,  right  has  its  epochs, 
the  entrance  of  Saturn  into  the  Lion  marks  for  us  the  origin  of 
such  and  such  a  crime.  That  is  droll  justice  which  is  bounded  by 
a  stream  !  Truth  on  this  side  of  the  Pyrenees,  error  on  that. 

It  is  admitted  that  justice  is  not  in  these  customs,  but  that  it 
resides  in  natural  laws  common  to  every  country.  This  would 
no  doubt  be  maintained  with  obstinacy  if  the  rash  chance  which 
has  disseminated  human  laws  had  lighted  upon  even  one  that  is 
universal,  but  the  singularity  of  the  matter  is  that  owing  to  the 
vagaries  of  human  caprice  there  is  not  one. 

Theft,  incest,  infanticide,  parricide,  all  have  found  a  place  among 
virtuous  actions.  Can  there  be  any  thing  more  absurd  than  that 
a  man  should  have  the  right  to  kill  me  because  he  lives  across 
the  water,  and  because  his  prince  has  a  quarrel  with  mine, 
although  I  have  none  with  him?  There  are  no  doubt  natural 
laws,  but  fair  reason  once  corrupted  has  corrupted  all.  Nihil 


62 


JUSTICE,  CUSTOMS,  AND  PREJUDICES. 


amplius  nostrum  est  j  quod  nostrum  dicimus ,  artis  est.  Ex 
senatusconsultis ,  et  plebiscitis  crimina  exercentur.  Ut  olim  vitiis , 
sic  nunc  legibus  laboramus. 

From  this  confusion  it  results  that  one  declares  the  essence 
of  justice  to  be  the  authority  of  the  legislator,  another,  the  con¬ 
venience  of  the  sovereign,  another,  existing  custom,  and  this 
is  the  most  sure  ;  nothing  which  follows  reason  alone  is  just  in 
itself,  all  shifts  and  changes  with  time  ;  custom  creates  equity, 
by  the  simple  reason  that  this  is  received.  It  is  the  mystical 
foundation  of  its  authority,  whoever  carries  it  back  to  first 
principles  annihilates  it.  Nothing  is  so  faulty  as  those  laws 
which  correct  faults.  Whoever  obeys  them  because  they  are 
just,  obeys  an  imaginary  justice,  not  law  in  its  essence  ;  it  is 
altogether  self-contained,  it  is  law  and  nothing  more.  Who¬ 
ever  will  examine  its  motive  will  find  it  so  feeble  and  so  slight 
that  if  he  be  not  used  to  contemplate  the  marvels  of  human  imagi¬ 
nation,  he  will  wonder  that  a  single  century  has  gained  for  it 
so  much  pomp  and  reverence.  It  is  the  art  of  disturbance  and 
of  revolution  to  shake  established  customs,  sounding  them  to 
their  source,  to  mark  their  want  of  authority  and  justice.  We 
must,  it  is  said,  return  to  the  primitive  and  fundamental  laws  of 
the  State,  abolished  by  unjust  custom.  It  is  a  game  wherein  -we 
are  sure  to  lose  all ;  in  this  balance  nothing  would  be  true,  yet 
the  people  easily  lends  an  ear  to  such  talk  as  this.  They  shake 
off  the  yoke  as  soon  as  they  recognise  it,  and  the  great  profit 
by  its  ruin,  and  by  the  ruin  of  those  who  have  too  curiously 
examined  recognised  customs.  This  is  why  the  wisest  of  law 
givers  said  that  it  was  often  necessary  to  cheat  men  for  their 
good,  and  another,  a  good  politician,  Quum  veritatem  qua  libere- 
tur  igno7'et,  expedit  quod  Jallatur.  We  ought  not  to  feel  the 
truth  that  law  is  but  usurpation  ;  it  was  once  introduced  with¬ 
out  reason,  and  has  become  reasonable  ;  it  is  necessary  to  cause 
it  to  be  regarded  as  eternal  and  authoritative,  and  to  conceal 
the  beginning  if  we  do  not  wish  it  should  soon  come  to  an  end. 

I  have  passed  much  of  my  life  believing  that  justice  existed, 
and  in  this  I  did  not  deceive  myself,  for  there  is  justice  ac¬ 
cording  as  God  has  willed  to  reveal  it  to  us.  But  I  did  not 


JUSTICE ,  CUSTOMS,  AND  PREJUDICES. 


63 


take  it  so,  and  in  that  I  deceived  myself,  for  I  believed  that 
our  justice  was  essentially  just,  and  that  I  had  that  whereby  I 
was  able  to  know  and  judge  of  it.  But  I  so  often  find  that  my 
right  judgment  was  at  fault,  that  at  last  I  have  begun  to  distrust 
myself,  and  then  others.  I  saw  in  all  countries  that  men  change, 
and  thus  after  many  changes  of  judgment  concerning  true 
justice,  I  recognised  that  our  nature  was  a  continual  change, 
and  I  have  not  changed  since  ;  were  I  to  change  I  should 
but  strengthen  my  opinion.  The  sceptic  Archesilas  became  a 
dogmatist. 

The  most  unreasonable  things  in  the  world  become  most 
reasonable,  because  of  the  unruly  lives  of  men.  What  is  less 
reasonable  than  to  choose  the  eldest  son  of  a  queen  to  guide 
a  state  ?  for  we  do  not  choose  as  steersman  of  a  ship  that  one  ot 
the  passengers  who  is  of  the  best  family.  Such  a  law  would  be 
ridiculous  and  unjust ;  but  since  they  are  so  themselves,  and  ever 
will  be,  it  becomes  reasonable  and  just.  For  would  they  choose 
the  most  virtuous  and  able,  we  at  once  fall  to  blows,  since 
each  asserts  that  he  is  the  most  virtuous  and  able.  Let  us  then 
affix  this  quality  to  something  which  cannot  be  disputed.  This 
man  is  the  king’s  eldest  son.  That  is  clear,  and  there  is  no 
dispute.  Reason  can  do  no  better,  for  civil  war  is  the  worst 
of  evils. 

Men  of  unruly  lives  assert  that  they  alone  follow  nature, 
while  those  who  are  orderly  stray  from  her  paths  ;  as  passengers 
in  a  ship  think  that  those  move  who  stand  upon  the  shore.  Both 
sides  say  the  same  thing.  There  must  be  a  fixed  point  to  enable 
us  to  judge.  The  harbour  decides  the  question  for  those 
who  are  in  the  vessel,  but  where  can  we  find  the  harbour  in 
morals  ? 


When  all  moves  equally,  nothing  seems  to  move,  as  in  a  ship. 
When  all  tend  to  vice,  none  appears  to  do  so.  Whoever  stops 
draws  attention  to  the  onward  movement  of  others,  as  does  a 
fixed  point. 


64  JUSTICE ,  CUSTOMS ,  ^A7>  PREJUDICES 


Justice  is  what  is  established,  and  thus  all  our  established  laws 
are  necessarily  held  to  be  just  without  being  examined,  because 
they  are  established. 

Justice. — As  fashion  makes  what  is  agreeable,  so  it  makes 
what  is  just. 

Our  natural  principles  are  but  principles  of  custom.  In  children 
natural  principles  are  those  which  they  have  received  from  the 
habits  of  their  fathers,  as  hunting  in  animals. 

A  different  custom  will  produce  different  natural  principles. 
This  experience  testifies,  and  if  there  are  some  natural  principles 
ineradicable  by  custom,  so  are  there  some  customs  opposed  to 
nature  ineradicable  by  nature,  or  by  a  second  custom.  This 
depends  on  constitution. 

F  athers  fear  that  the  natural  love  of  their  ch  ildren  may  be  effaced 
N  ow  what  sort  of  thing  is  that  nature  which  is  liable  to  be  effaced. 
Custom  is  a  second  nature  which  destroys  the  former.  But  what 
is  nature,  for  is  not  custom  natural  ?  I  am  greatly  afraid  that  nature 
itself  may  be  only  our  first  custom,  as  custom  is  second  nature. 

Montaigne  was  wrong :  custom  should  only  be  followed  because 
it  is  custom,  and  not  because  it  is  reasonable  or  just ;  but  most  men 
follow  it  for  the  simple  reason  that  they  think  it  just.  Otherwise 
they  would  not  follow  it  though  it  were  the  custom,  for  our  only 
wish  is  to  be  subjected  to  reason  or  to  justice.  Without  this, 
custom  would  pass  for  tyranny,  but  the  empire  of  reason  and 
justice  is  no  more  tyrannical  than  that  of  desire.  These  are 
principles  natural  to  man. 

It  is  then  good  to  obey  laws  and  customs  because  they  are 
laws,  but  we  ought  to  know  that  there  is  neither  truth  nor  justice 
to  introduce  into  them,  that  we  know  nothing  about  these,  and 
can  therefore  only  follow  what  is  recognised,  and  thus  we  should 
never  transgress  them.  But  most  men  cannot  receive  this  doc¬ 
trine,  and  since  they  believe  that  truth  can  be  found,  and  that  it 
resides  in  law  and  custom,  they  believe  these  laws,  and  take  their 
antiquity  as  a  proof  of  their  truth,  and  not  merely  of  their  authority 
apart  from  truth.  Thus  they  obey  the  laws,  but  are  liable 


JUSTICE ,  CUSTOMS ,  TyYZ)  PREJUDICES. 


65 


to  revolt  when  these  are  shown  to  be  of  no  value  ;  and  this  may 
be  proved  of  all  of  them,  looked  at  from  a  certain  point  of  view. 

Injustice. — The  authority  of  the  judge  is  not  given  him  for 
his  sake,  but  for  that  of  the  judged.  It  is  dangerous  to  say  this 
to  the  people,  but  the  people  have  too  much  faith  in  you  ;  that 
will  not  harm  them,  and  may  serve  you.  You  must  then  say 
it  openly.  Pasce  oves  meets ,  not  tuas.  You  owe  me  pasturage. 

Dijustice. — It  is  dangerous  to  say  to  the  people  that  the  laws 
are  not  just,  for  men  obey  them  only  because  they  think  them 
just.  Therefore  it  is  necessary  to  say  at  the  same  time  that  they 
must  be  obeyed  because  they  are  laws,  as  superiors  must  be 
obeyed,  not  because  they  are  just,  but  because  they  are  superiors. 
All  sedition  is  averted,  if  this  principle  be  established  and  it  be 
understood  what  is  rightly  the  definition  of  justice. 

(If  God  gave  us  masters  direct  from  himself,  how  heartily 
ought  we  to  obey  them  !  Circumstances  and  necessity  are 
infallible  masters. 

Custom  is  our  nature.  Whoever  is  accustomed  to  the  faith 
believes  in  it,  can  no  longer  even  fear  hell,  and  believes  in 
nothing  else.  Whoever  accustoms  himself  to  believe  that  the 
king  is  terrible  .  .  .  etc.  Who  doubts  then  that  our  soul,  being 
accustomed  to  see  number,  space,  and  motion,  believes  that  and 
nothing  else  ? 

Veri  juris ;  we  have  it  no  longer ;  had  we  it,  we  should  not 
take  the  manners  of  our  country  as  our  rule  of  justice. 

Here,  not  finding  justice,  we  fall  back  on  force,  etc. 

It  is  a  ridiculous  thing  to  consider  that  there  are  people  in 
the  world  who,  having  renounced  all  the  laws  of  God  and 
nature,  have  yet  made  laws  for  themselves  which  they  exactly 
obey,  as,  for  instance,  the  soldiers  of  Mahomet,  thieves,  heretics, 
etc.,  and  thus  logicians  .  .  . 

It  seems  as  though  their  licence  must  be  without  limit  or  barrier, 
since  they  have  broken  down  so  many  that  are  just  and  holy. 


66  JUSTICE,  CUSTOMS,  AND  PREJUDICES 


Weakness. — The  whole  employment  of  men  is  to  gain  wealth  ; 
yet  they  have  no  title  to  show  that  they  justly  possess  it  but 
human  caprice,  nor  have  they  power  to  hold  it  securely.  It  is 
the  same  with  knowledge,  of  which  disease  deprives  us.  We 
are  incapable  both  of  truth  and  of  goodness. 

The  Swiss  are  offended  if  they  are  called  noble,  and  bring 
proof  of  their  plebeian  race  that  they  may  be  judged  worthy  of 
office. 

When  the  question  is  of  judging  whether  we  ought  to  make 
war  and  kill  so  many  men,  condemning  so  many  Spaniards  to 
death,  there 'is  only  one  man  who  is  the  judge,  and  he  an 
interested  party ;  there  ought  to  be  a  third,  and  he  disinterested. 

“  Why  do  you  kill  me  ? — What !  Do  not  you  live  on  the  other 
side  of  the  stream,  my  friend  ?  If  you  lived  on  this  side  I  should 
be  an  assassin,  and  it  were  unjust  to  kill  you  in  this  fashion,  but 
since  you  live  on  the  other  side,  I  am  a  brave  soldier,  and  it  is 
just.” 

Justice ,  Power. — It  is  just  that  what  is  just  should  be  obeyed, 
it  is  of  necessity  that  what  is  strongest  should  be  obeyed. 

Justice  without  power  is  unavailing,  power  without  justice  is 
tyrannical.  Justice  without  power  is  gainsaid,  because  the  wicked 
always  exist,  power  without  justice  is  condemned.  We  must 
therefore  combine  justice  and  power,  making  what  is  just  strong, 
and  what  is  strong  just. 

Justice  is  subject  to  dispute,  power  is  easily  recognised  and 
cannot  be  disputed.  Thus  we  cannot  give  power  to  justice, 
because  power  has  arraigned  justice,  saying  that  justice  is  unjust, 
and  she  herself  truly  just  ;  so  since  we  are  unable  to  bring 
about  that  what  is  just  should  be  strong,  we  have  made  the 
strong  just. 

The  sole  universal  rules  are  the  laws  of  the  country  in  ordi¬ 
nary  affairs,  and  the  law  of  the  majority  in  others.  And  this 
comes  from  the  power  w'hich  is  in  them. 


JUSTICE,  CUSTOMS,  AND  PREJUDICES.  67 

Thus  it  comes  that  kings,  whose  power  is  of  another  kind,  do 
not  follow  the  majority  of  their  ministers. 

No  doubt  equality  of  goods  is  just,  but  since  they  are  unable 
to  bring  about  that  power  should  obey  justice,  people  have 
judged  it  right  to  obey  power;  not  being  able  to  add  power  to 
justice  they  have  justified  power,  so  that  justice  and  power 
should  coalesce,  and  peace,  the  sovereign  good,  result. 

Do  we  follow  the  majority  because  they  have  more  reason  ? 
No  ;  but  because  they  have  more  power. 

Do  we  follow  ancient  laws  and  opinions  because  they  are 
more  sound  ?  No  ;  but  because  they  stand  alone  and  take  from 
us  the  root  of  diversity. 

Summum  jus,  summa  injuria. 

The  way  of  the  majority  is  the  best  way,  because  it  is  plain, 
and  has  power  to  make  itself  obeyed  ;  yet  it  is  the  opinion  of  the 
least  able. 

If  men  could  have  done  so,  they  would  have  placed  power  in 
the  hands  of  justice,  since  we  cannot  deal  with  power  as  we 
please,  because  it  is  a  tangible  quality,  while  justice  is  a  spiritual 
quality  of  which  we  dispose  as  we  please,  they  have  placed 
justice  in  the  hands  of  power,  and  thus  that  is  called  just  which 
we  are  forced  to  obey. 

Thence  arises  the  right  of  the  swerd,  for  the  sword  gives  a 
true  right. 

Otherwise  we  should  see  violence  on  one  side  and  justice  on 
the  other.  The  end  of  the  twelfth  Provincial. 

Thence  the  injustice  of  the  Fronde,  which  raises  its  so-called 
justice  against  power. 

It  is  not  the  same  in  the  Church,  for  there  is  true  justice  and 
no  violence. 

Injustice. — That  presumption  should  be  joined  to  insigni¬ 
ficance  is  extreme  injustice. 

Tyranny  consists  in  the  desire  of  universal  rule  outside  its 
sphere. 


JUSTICE ,  CUSTOMS ,  PREJUDICES. 


There  are  different  societies,  in  which  are  the  strong,  the  fair, 
the  judicious,  the  devout,  in  which  each  man  rules  at  home,  not 
elsewhere.  Sometimes  they  meet,  and  the  strong  and  the  fair 
contend  for  the  mastery,  foolishly,  for  their  mastery  is  each  in  a 
different  kind.  They  do  not  agree,  and  their  fault  is  that  each 
aims  at  universal  dominion.  None  can  obtain  this,  not  even 
power,  which  is  of  no  avail  in  the  realm  of  the  wise  ;  she  is 
only  mistress  of  our  external  actions. 

Tyranny. — Thus  the  following  expressions  are  false  and 
tyrannical:  “I  am  beautiful,  therefore  I  should  be  feared;  I 
am  strong,  therefore  I  should  be  loved.  I  am  .  .  .  ” 

Tyranny  is  the  wishing  to  have  in  one  way  what  can  only  be 
had  in  another.  Divers  duties  are  owing  to  divers  merits,  the 
duty  of  love  to  the  pleasant,  of  fear  to  the  strong,  of  belief  to  the 
wise. 

These  duties  should  be  paid,  it  is  unjust  to  refuse  them, 
unjust  also  to  require  others.  In  the  same  way  it  is  false  and 
tyrannous  to  say,  “He  is  not  strong,  therefore  I  will  not  esteem 
him  ;  he  is  not  clever,  therefore  I  will  not  fear  him.” 

It  is  necessary  that  men  should  be  unequal.  True  ;  but  that 
being  granted,  the  door  is  open,  not  only  to  the  greatest  domi¬ 
nation,  but  to  the  greatest  tyranny. 

It  is  necessary  to  relax  the  mind  a  little,  but  that  opens  the 
door  to  extreme  dissipation. 

We  must  mark  the  limits. — There  are  no  fixed  boundaries  in 
these  matters,  law  wishes  to  impose  them,  but  the  mind  will  not 
bear  them. 

Mine ,  Thine. — “This  is  my  dog,”  said  those  poor  children, 
“that  is  my  place  in  the  sunshine.”  Here  is  the  beginning  and 
the  image  of  the  usurpation  of  the  whole  earth. 

Good  birth  is  a  great  advantage,  for  it  gives  a  man  a  chance 
at  the  age  of  eighteen,  making  him  known  and  respected  as 
an  ordinary  man  is  on  his  merits  at  fifty.  Here  are  thirty  years 
gained  at  a  stroke. 


JUSTICE ,  CUSTOMS ,  PREJUDICES. 


69 


It  is  the  result  of  power  and  not  of  custom.  For  those  who  are 
able  to  originate  are  few,  the  greater  number  will  only  follow,  and 
refuse  glory  to  those  inventors  who  seek  it  by  their  inventions. 
And  if  they  persist  in  wishing  to  gain  glory,  and  in  despising 
those  who  do  not  originate,  the  others  will  give  them  ridicule 
and  would  fain  give  them  blows.  Let  no  one  then  pride  himself 
on  this  subtle  capacity,  or  else  let  him  keep  his  content  to  himself. 

The  reason  oj effects. — It  is  strange  that  men  would  not  have 
me  honour  a  man  clothed  in  brocade,  and  followed  by  seven  or 
eight  footmen  !  Yet  he  will  have  them  give  me  the  strap  if  I  do 
not  salute  him.  This  custom  is  a  power.  It  is  the  same  with  a 
horse  in  fine  trappings  compared  with  another.  It  is  odd  that 
Montaigne  does  not  see  what  difference  there  is,  wonders  that 
we  find  any,  and  asks  the  reason.  “Indeed,”  he  says,  “how 
comes  it,”  etc  .  .  . 

When  power  attacks  craft,  when  a  mere  soldier  takes  the  square 
cap  of  a  first  president,  and  flings  it  out  of  the  window. 

Injustice. — Men  have  found  no  means  to  gratify  their  sensu¬ 
ality  without  wrong  to  others. 

The  greatness  of  man  even  in  his  sensuality,  to  have  known 
how  to  extract  from  it  an  admirable  code,  and  to  have  drawn 
from  it  a  picture  of  love  to  others. 

Greatness. — The  reasons  of  effects  mark  the  greatness  of  man, 
in  having  formed  so  fair  an  order  out  of  sensuality. 

The  reason  of  effects. — Sensuality  and  power  are  the  source  of 
all  our  actions  ;  sensuality  causes  those  which  are  voluntary', 
power  the  involuntary. 

From  sensuality  men  have  found  and  drawn  excellent  rules 
of  policy,  of  morals,  and  of  justice. 

But  after  all,  this  evil  root  of  man,  this  Jigmentum  malum ,  is 
only  hidden,  it  is  not  removed. 


70  JUSTICE ,  CUSTOMS,  AND  PREJUDICES. 


Aii  men  by  nature  hate  each  other.  They  have  used  sensuality 
as  best  they  could  to  make  it  serve  the  public  weal,  but  this  is  only 
a  feint,  and  a  false  image  of  charity,  for  at  bottom  it  is  but  hate. 

To  pity  the  unfortunate  is  not  contrary  to  sensuality,  rather 
is  it  easy  to  render  this  evidence  of  friendship,  and  to  gain  the 
reputation  of  a  tender  heart,  without  giving. 

The  people  have  very  sound  opinions,  for  instance : 

1.  In  having  preferred  diversion  and  hunting  to  poetry. 
The  half  educated  deride  this,  and  are  triumphant  over  the 
folly  of  the  world,  but  the  people  are  right  by  a  reason  which  the 
others  do  not  understand. 

2.  In  distinguishing  men  by  outward  marks,  as  birth  or 
wealth.  The  world  is  again  triumphant  in  showing  how  un¬ 
reasonable  this  is,  yet  it  is  thoroughly  reasonable.  Savages 
laugh  at  an  infant  king. 

3.  In  taking  offence  at  a  blow,  or  in  desiring  glory  so  strongly. 

But  it  is  very  desirable,  on  account  of  the  other  essential 

goods  which  are  joined  to  it,  and  a  man  who  has  received  a  blow 
without  resenting  it  is  overwhelmed  with  abuse  and  indignity. 

4.  In  working  for  an  uncertainty,  in  going  on  a  sea  voyage, 
in  walking  over  a  plank. 

Sound  opinions  of  the  people. —  Civil  wars  are  the  greatest  of 
all  evils.  They  are  certain,  if  we  try  to  reward  desert,  for  all 
will  say  they  deserve.  The  evil  to  fear  from  a  fool  who  suc¬ 
ceeds  by  right  of  birth,  is  neither  so  great  nor  so  certain. 

Sound  opinions  of  the  people. — To  be  well  dressed  is  not 
altogether  foolish,  for  it  proves  that  a  great  number  of  people 
work  for  us.  It  shows  by  our  hair,  that  we  have  a  valet,  a  per¬ 
fumer,  etc. ;  by  our  band,  our  thread,  our  trimming,  etc.  Now  it 
is  not  merely  superficial  nor  simply  outward  show  to  have  many 
arms  at  our  disposal. 

The  more  arms  we  have  the  stronger  we  are.  To  be  well 
dressed  is  to  show  our  power. 


JUSTICE ,  CUSTOMS,  AND  PREJUDICES. 


71 


The  reason  of  effects. — Continual  alternation  of  fro  and  con. 

We  have  then  shown  that  man  is  frivolous,  by  the  estimation 
he  has  of  non-essentials.  And  all  these  opinions  are  destroyed. 
We  have  next  shown  that  all  these  opinions  were  perfectly 
sound,  and  that  thus  all  these  frivolities  being  well  founded, 
the  people  is  not  so  frivolous  as  is  said.  And  thus  we  have 
destroyed  the  opinion  which  destroyed  that  of  the  people. 

But  we  must  now  destroy  this  last  proposition,  and  show  that 
it  remains  always  true  that  the  people  is  frivolous,  though  its 
opinions  are  sound,  because  it  does  not  feel  the  truth  where  it 
is,  and  placing  it  where  it  is  not,  its  opinions  are  always  very 
false  and  very  unsound. 

The  reason  of  effects—  It  is,  then,  true  to  say  that  all  men  are 
under  an  illusion,  for  even  though  the  opinions  of  the  people 
be  sound,  they  are  not  so  as  they  hold  them,  for  they  think  that 
truth  is  where  it  is  not.  Truth  is  indeed  in  their  opinions,  but 
not  at  the  point  where  they  imagine  it. 

Thus,  it  is  true  that  we  should  honour  men  of  birth,  but  not 
because  good  birth  is  in  itself  an  advantage,  etc. 

The  reason  of  effects— Gradation.  The  people  honours  per¬ 
sons  of  high  birth.  The  half-educated  despise  them,  saying 
that  birth  is  not  a  personal,  but  a  chance  advantage.  The  edu¬ 
cated  honour  them,  not  from  the  motives  of  the  people,  but  from 
another  motive.  Devout  persons  of  more  zeal  than  knowledge 
despise  them,  in  spite  of  that  consideration  which  makes  them 
honoured  by  the  educated,  because  they  judge  by  a  new  light 
arising  from  their  piety.  But  true  Christians  honour  them  by 
a  still  higher  light.  So  there  is  a  succession  of  opinions  for  and 
against,  according  to  the  measure  of  our  light. 

How  rightly  do  men  distinguish  by  exterior  rather  than  by 
interior  qualities  !  Which  of  us  twain  shall  take  the  lead  ? 
Who  will  give  place  to  the  other?  The  least  able  ?  But  I  am  as 
able  as  he  is.  We  should  have  to  fight  about  that.  He  has  four 
footmen,  and  I  have  but  one  ;  that  is  something  which  can  be 
seen  ;  there  is  nothing  to  do  but  to  count ;  it  is  my  place  to 


72 


JUSTICE ,  CUSTOMS ,  ^VZ>  PREJUDICES. 


yield,  and  I  am  a  fool  if  I  contest  it.  So  by  this  means  we 
remain  at  peace,  the  greatest  of  all  blessings. 

Deference  is  shown  by  submitting  to  personal  inconvenience. 
This  is  apparently  foolish  but  really  just,  for  it  is  to  say,  “  I 
would  certainly  put  myself  to  inconvenience  did  you  need  it, 
since  I  do  so  when  it  can  be  of  no  service  to  you.”  Respect, 
moreover,  is  for  the  purpose  of  marking  distinctions  of  rank. 
Now  if  it  showed  respect  to  be  seated  in  an  arm-chair,  we  should 
pay  respect  to  every  body,  and  thus  no  distinction  would  be 
made,  but  being  put  to  inconvenience  we  distinguish  very  well. 

The  reason  of  effects. — We  should  keep  our  own  secret 
thoughts,  arid  judge  of  all  by  those,  while  speaking  like  every 
one  else. 

King  and  tyrant. — I  too  will  have  my  secret  thoughts.  I  will 
take  care  on  every  journey. 

The  reason  of  effects. — Epictetus.  Those  who  say  “  You  have  a 
headache,”  this  is  not  the  same  thing.  We  are  assured  of 
health,  and  not  of  justice,  and  indeed  his  own  was  folly. 

Yet  he  believed  it  demonstrable  when  he  said,  “it  is  either  in 
our  power  or  it  is  not.” 

But  he  did  not  see  that  it  is  not  in  our  power  to  regulate  the 
heart,  and  he  was  wrong  to  draw  this  conclusion  from  the  fact 
that  some  were  Christians. 

The  reason  of  effects. — It  is  owing  to  the  weakness  of  man 
that  so  many  things  are  esteemed  beautiful,  as  to  be  well  skilled 
in  playing  the  lute. 

It  is  only  an  evil  because  of  our  weakness. 


THE  WEAKNESS,  UNREST,  AND 
DEFECTS  OF  MAN . 


The  Misery  of  Man. — We  care  nothing  for  the  present.  We 
anticipate  the  future  as  too  slow  in  coming,  as  if  we  could  make 
it  move  faster  ;  or  we  call  back  the  past,  to  stop  its  rapid  flight. 
So  imprudent  are  we  that  we  wander  through  the  times  in  which 
we  have  no  part,  unthinking  of  that  which  alone  is  ours  ;  so 
frivolous  are  we  that  we  dream  of  the  days  which  are  not,  and 
pass  by  without  reflection  those  which  alone  exist.  For  the 
present  generally  gives  us  pain ;  we  conceal  it  from  our  sight 
because  it  afflicts  us,  and  if  it  be  pleasant  we  regret  to  see  it 
vanish  away.  We  endeavour  to  sustain  the  present  by  the 
future,  and  think  of  arranging  things  not  in  our  power,  for  a 
time  at  which  we  have  no  certainty  of  arriving. 

If  we  examine  our  thoughts,  we  shall  find  them  always  occu¬ 
pied  with  the  past  or  the  future.  We  scarcely  think  of  the 
present,  and  if  we  do  so,  it  is  only  that  we  may  borrow  light 
from  it  to  direct  the  future.  The  present  is  never  our  end  ; 
the  past  and  the  present  are  our  means,  the  future  alone  is  our 
end.  Thus  we  never  live,  but  hope  to  live,  and  while  we  always 
lay  ourselves  out  to  be  happy,  it  is  inevitable  that  we  can  never 
be  so. 

We  are  so  unhappy  that  we  cannot  take  pleasure  in  a  thing, 
save  on  condition  of  being  troubled  if  it  turn  out  ill,  as  a  thousand 
things  may  do,  and  do  every  hour.  He  who  should  find  the 
secret  of  rejoicing  in  good  without  being  troubled  at  its  contrary 
evil,  would  have  hit  the  mark.  It  is  perpetual  motion. 

Our  nature  exists  by  motion  ;  perfect  rest  is  death. 


74 


WEAKNESS ,  UNREST,  AND 


When  wc  are  well  we  wonder  how  we  should  get  on  if  we 
were  sick,  but  when  sickness  comes  we  take  our  medicine 
cheerfully,  into  that  the  evil  resolves  itself.  We  have  no  ongei 
those  passions  and  that  desire  for  amusement  and  gadding 
abroad,  which  were  ours  in  health,  but  are  now  incompatible 
with  the  necessities  of  our  disease.  So  then  nature  gives  us 
passions  and  desires  in  accordance  with  the  immediate  situation 
Nothing  troubles  us  but  fears,  which  we,  and  not  nature,  ma  - 
for  ourselves,  because  fear  adds  to  the  condition  in  which  we  are 
the  passions  of  the  condition  in  which  we  are  not. 

Since  nature  makes  us  always  unhappy  in  every  condition, 
our  desires  paint  for  us  a  happy  condition,  joining  to  that  in 
which  we  are,  the  pleasures  of  the  condition  m  which  we  are  not, 
and  were  we  to  gain  these  pleasures  we  should  not  theiefore  be 
happy,  because  we  should  have  other  desires  conformable  to 

this  new  estate. 

We  must  particularize  this  general  proposition  .  .  . 

What  difference  in  point  of  obedience  is  there  between  a 
soldier  and  a  Carthusian  ?  For  both  are  alike  under  rule  and  de¬ 
pendent,  both  engaged  in  equally  irksome  labours.  But  the 
soldier  always  hopes  to  bear  rule,  and  though  he  never  does  so 
for  even  captains  and  princes  are  always  slaves  and  dependents, 
he  ever  hopes  and  ever  works  to  attain  mastery,  whereas  the 
Carthusian  makes  a  vow  never  to  be  aught  else  than  dependent 
Thus  they  do  not  differ  in  their  perpetual  servitude,  which  is  the 
same  always  for  both,  but  in  the  hope  which  one  always  has, 

the  other  never. 

The  example  of  Alexander’s  chastity  has  not  made  so  many 
continent  as  that  of  his  drunkenness  has  made  intemperate.  t 
is  not  shameful  to  be  less  virtuous  than  he,  and  it  seems  excusa  e 
to  be  no  more  vicious.  We  do  not  think  ourselves  wholly  partaker s 
in  the  vices  of  ordinary  men,  when  we  see  that  we  share  those 
of  the  great,  not  considering  that  in  such  matters  the  great  are 
but  ordinary  men.  We  hold  on  to  them  by  the  same  end  by 
which  they  hold  on  to  the  people,  for  at  whatsoever  height  t  y 


DEFECTS  OF  MAN. 


75 


be,  they  are  yet  united  at  some  point  to  the  lowest  of  mankind. 
They  are  not  suspended  in  the  air,  abstracted  from  our  society. 
No,  doubly  no  ;  if  they  are  greater  than  we,  it  is  because  their 
heads  are  higher  ;  but  their  feet  are  as  low  as  ours.  There  all 
are  on  the  same  level,  resting  on  the  same  earth,  and  by  the 
lower  extremity  are  as  low  as  we  are,  as  the  meanest  men,  as 
children,  and  the  brutes. 

Great  men  and  little  have  the  same  accidents,  the  same 
tempers,  the  same  passions,  but  one  is  on  the  felloe  of  the 
wheel,  the  other  near  the  axle,  and  so  less  agitated  by  the  same 
revolutions. 

Would  he  who  had  enjoyed  the  friendship  of  the  King  of 
England,  the  King  of  Poland,  and  the  Oueen  of  Sweden  have 
thought  he  should  come  to  want,  and  need  a  retreat  or  shelter 
in  the  world  ? 

Man  is  full  of  wants,  and  cares  only  for  those  who  can  satisfy 
them  all.  “  Such  an  one  is  a  good  mathematician,”  it  is  said. 
But  I  have  nothing  to  do  with  mathematics,  he  would  take  me 
for  a  proposition.  “  This  other  is  a  good  soldier.”  He  would 
treat  me  as  a  besieged  city.  I  need  then  an  honourable  man 
who  can  lend  himself  generally  to  all  my  wants. 

Men  say  that  eclipses  presage  misfortune,  because  misfor¬ 
tunes  are  common,  so  that  as  evil  often  happens  they  often 
divine  it ;  whereas  to  say  that  they  presage  happiness  would 
often  prove  false.  They  attribute  happiness  only  to  rare  plane¬ 
tary  conjunctions,  and  thus  they  seldom  fail  in  their  divination. 

We  are  fools  if  we  rest  content  with  the  society  of  those  like 
ourselves  ;  miserable  as  we  are,  powerless  as  we  are,  they  will 
not  aid  us,  we  shall  die  alone.  We  ought  therefore  to  act  as 
though  we  were  alone,  and  should  we  in  that  case  build  superb 
mansions,  etc.  ?  We  should  search  for  truth  unhesitatingly,  and 
if  we  refuse  it,  we  show  that  we  value  the  esteem  of  men  more 
than  the  search  for  truth. 

The  last  act  is  tragic,  how  pleasantly  soever  the  play  may 


76  WEAKNESS ,  UNREST, \  AND 

have  run  through  the  others.  At  the  end  a  little  earth  is  flung 
on  our  head,  and  all  is  over  for  ever. 

I  feel  that  I  might  not  have  been,  for  the  ‘  I  ’  consists  in  my 
thought ;  therefore  I,  who  think,  had  not  been  had  my  mother 
beei'Tkilled  before  I  had  life.  So  I  am  not  a  necessary  being. 
Neither  am  I  eternal  nor  infinite,  but  I  see  plainly  there  is  in 
nature  a  necessary  being,  eternal  and  infinite. 

As  duchies,  kingships,  and  magistracies  are  real  and  neces¬ 
sary,  because  power  rules  all,  these  exist  every  where  and  alwa\  s. 
But  since  it  is  only  caprice  which  makes  one  or  another  duke 
or  king,  the  rule  is  not  constant,  and  may  vary,  etc. 

•f- 

Cromwell  was  about  to  ravage  the  whole  of  Chiistendom,  the 
royal  family  had  been  brought  to  nought,  and  his  own  dynasty 
for  ever  established,  but  for  a  little  grain  of  sand  in  his  bladder. 
Rome  herself  began  to  tremble  under  him,  but  this  scrap  of 
gravel  having  got  there,  he  dies,  his  family  falls  fiom  powei, 
peace  is  established,  and  the  king  restored. 

Scepticism. — Excessive  or  deficient  mental  powers  are  alike 
accused  of  madness.  Nothing  is  good  but  mediocrity.  The 
majority  has  settled  that,  and  assails  whoever  escapes  it,  no 
matter  by  which  extreme.  I  make  no  objection,  would 
willingly  consent  to  be  in  the  mean,  and  I  refuse  to  be 
placed  at  the  lower  end,  not  because  it  is  low,  but  because  it 
is  an  extreme,  for  I  would  equally  refuse  to  be  placed  at  the 
top.  To  leave  the  mean  is  to  leave  humanity.  The  greatness 
of  the  human  soul  consists  in  knowing  how  to  keep  the  mean. 
So  little  is  it  the  case  that  greatness  consists  in  leaving  it,  that 
it  lies  in  not  leaving  it. 

Discourses  on  humility  give  occasion  for  pride  to  the  boastful, 
and  for  humility  to  the  humble.  Those  on  scepticism  give 
occasion  for  believers  to  affirm.  Few  men  speak  humbly  of 
humility,  chastely  of  chastity,  few  of  scepticism  doubtingly.  We 
are  but  falsehood,  duplicity  and  contradiction,  using  even 
to  ourselves  concealment  and  guile. 


DEFECTS  OF  MAN. 


77 


There  are  vices  which  only  take  hold  of  us  by  means  of  others, 
and  these,  like  branches,  fall  with  the  removal  of  the  trunk. 

For  we  must  not  mistake  ourselves,  we  have  as  much  that  is 
automatic  in  us  as  intellectual,  and  hence  it  comes  that  the 
instrument  by  which  persuasion  is  brought  about  is  not  demon¬ 
stration  alone.  How  few  things  are  demonstrated  !  Proofs 
can  only  convince  the  mind  ;  jcustom  makes  our  strongest  proofs 
and  those  which  we  hold  most  firmly,  it  sways  the  automaton, 
which  draws  the  unconscious  intellect  after  it.  Who  has  demon¬ 
strated  that  there  will  be  a  to-morrow,  or  that  we  shall  die  ; 
yet  what  is  more  universally  believed?  It  is  then  custom  that 
convinces  us  of  it,  custom  that  makes  so  many  men  Christians, 
custom  that  makes  them  Turks,  heathen,  artisans,  soldiers,  etc. 
Lastly,  we  must  resort  to  custom  when  once  the  mind  has  seen 
where  truth  is,  in  order  to  slake  our  thirst,  and  steep  ourselves  in 
that  belief,  which  escapes  us  at  every  hour,  for  to  have  proofs 
always  at  hand  were  too  onerous.  We  must  acquire  a  move 
easv  belief,  that  of  custom,  which  without  violence,  without  art, 
without  argument,  causes  our  assent  and  inclines  all  our  powers 
to  this  belief,  so  that  our  soul  naturally  falls  into  it.  It  is  not 
enough  to  believe  only  by  force  of  conviction  if  the  automaton  is 
inclined  to  believe  the  contrary.  Both  parts  of  us  then  must  be 
obliged  to  believe,  the  intellect  by  arguments  which  it  is  enough 
to  have  admitted  once  in  our  lives,  the  automaton  by  custom, 
and  by  not  allowing  it  to  incline  in  the  contrary  direction.  In - 
clina  cor  meum ,  Dens. 

The  intellect  believes  naturally,  and  the  will  loves  naturally, 
so  that  for  lack  of  true  objects,  they  must  needs  attach  them¬ 
selves  to  the  false. 

Eritis  sicut  Hi,  scientes  bonnm  et  malum—  Every  one  plays 
the  god  in  judging  whether  anything  be  good  or  bad,  and  in 
being  too  much  afflicted  or  rejoiced  at  circumstances. 

Even  if  people  have  no  interest  in  what  they  say,  it  must  not 
therefore  be  certainly  concluded  they  are  not  lying,  for  there 
are  those  who  lie  simply  for  lying’s  sake. 


78 


WEAKNESS ,  UNREST,  ANi> 


Men  are  of  necessity  so  mad,  that  not  to  be  mad  were  madness 
in  another  form. 

We  cannot  think  of  Plato  and  Aristotle,  save  in  professorial 
robes.  They  were  honest  men  like  others,  laughing  with  their 
friends,  and  when  they  amused  themselves  with  writing  the 
Lazos  or  the  Politics ,  they  did  it  as  a  pastime.  That  part  of  their 
life  was  the  least  philosophic  and  the  least  serious  ;  the  most 
philosophic  was  to  live  simply  and  quietly.  Jf  they  wrote  on 
politics  it  was  as  though  they  were  laying  down  rules  for  a  mad¬ 
house,  and  if  they  made  as  though  they  were  speaking  of  a  great 
matter,  it  was  because  they  knew  that  the  madmen  to  whom  they 
spoke  fancied  themselves  kings  and  emperors.  They  entered  into 
their  views  in  order  to  make  their  folly  as  little  harmful  as  possible. 

The  most  important  affair  in  life  is  the  choice  of  a  trader 
vet  chance  decides  it.  Custom  makes  men  masons,  soldiers, 
tilers.  “  He  is  a  good  tiler/’  says  one,  “  and  soldiers  are  fools.” 
But  others  :  “  There  is  nothing  great  but  war,  all  but  soldiers  are 
rogues.”  We  choose  our  professions  according  as  we  hear  this  or 
that  praised  or  despised  in  our  childhood,  for  we  naturally  love 
truth  and  hate  folly.  These  words  move  us,  the  only  fault  is  in 
their  application.  So  great  is  the  force  of  custom  that  out  of  those 
who  by  nature  are  only  men,  are  made  all  conditions  of  men. 
For  some  countries  are  full  of  masons,  others  of  soldiers,  etc. 
Nature  is  certainly  not  so  uniform.  Custom  then  produces  this 
effect  and  gains  ascendency  over  nature,  yet  sometimes  nature 
gets  the  upper  hand,  and  obliges  man  to  act  by  instinct  in  spite 
of  all  custom,  whether  good  or  bad. 

Men  by  nature  are  tilers  and  of  all  callings,  except  in  their  own 
closets. 

We  never  teach  men  to  be  gentlemen,  but  we  teach  them 
everything  else,  and  they  never  pique  themselves  so  much  on  all 
the  rest  as  on  knowing  how  to  be  gentlemen.  They  pique  them¬ 
selves  only  on  knowing  the  one  thing  they  have  not  learnt. 

People  should  not  be  able  to  say  of  a  man,  he  is  a  mathema- 


DEFECTS  OF  MAN. 


79 


tician,  or  a  preacher,  or  eloquent,  but  he  is  a  gentleman  ;  that 
universal  quality  alone  pleases  me. — When  you  think  of  a  man’s 
book  as  soon  as  you  see  himself,  it  is  a  bad  sign.  I  would 
rather  that  none  of  his  qualities  should  be  recognised  till  you 
meet  them,  or  have  occasion  to  avail  yourself  of  them.  Ne  quid 
minis ,  for  fear  some  one  quality  gain  the  mastery  and  stamp  the 
man.  Let  not  people  think  of  him  as  an  orator,  unless  oratory 
be  in  question,  then  let  them  think  of  it. 

No  man  passes  in  the  world  as  an  expert  in  verse  unless  he 
hang  out  the  sign  of  a  poet,  a  mathematician,  etc.  But  people 
who  are  generally  accomplished  need  no  sign  and  scarce  recog¬ 
nise  any  difference  between  the  trade  of  a  poet  and  that  of  an 
embroiderer. 

People  of  general  accomplishment  are  not  called  poets  or 
geometricians,  etc.,  though  they  are  so,  and  judges  of  all  these. 
You  do  not  guess  what  they  are.  When  they  enter  a  society 
they  join  in  the  general  conversation.  They  do  not  exhibit 
one  quality  rather  than  another,  except  when  they  have  to 
make  use  of  it.  Then  we  remember  it,  for  it  is  natural  to 
such  characters  that  we  do  not  say  of  them  that  they  are  fine 
speakers  when  it  is  not  a  question  of  oratory,  and  that  we  give 
them  the  praise  of  eloquence  if  occasion  call  for  it. 

It  is  false  praise  then  to  say  of  a  man  as  soon  as  he  enters  a 
society  that  he  is  a  clever  poet,  and  it  is  a  bad  sign  when  a 
man  is  never  called  on  to  give  his  opinion  on  such  a  subject  as 
verse. 

Inconstancy. — Things  have  different  qualities,  and  the  soul 
different  inclinations  ;  for  nothing  is  simple  which  presents 
itself  to  the  soul,  and  the  soul  never  presents  itself  simply  to 
any  subject.  Hence  it  comes  that  men  laugh  and  weep  at  the 
same  thing. 

Greatness  of  establishment,  respect  for  establishment. 

The  pleasure  of  the  great  is  to  be  able  to  make  people  happy. 

The  property  of  riches  is  to  be  given  liberally. 

The  property  of  each  thing  should  be  sought  out.  The  pro¬ 
perty  of  power  is  to  protect 


So 


WEAKNESS,  UNREST,  AND 


Saint  Augustine  saw  that  we  labour  for  an  uncertainty,  at  sea, 
in  a  battle,  etc. ;  lie  did  not  see  the  doctrine  of  chances,  which 
demonstrates  that  we  must  do  so.  Montaigne  saw  that  we  are 
disgusted  at  a  distorted  mind,  and  that  custom  can  do  all 
things,  but  he  did  not  see  the  reason  of  that  effect. 

All  these  men  saw  the  effects,  but  did  not  see  the  causes  ;  in 
relation  to  those  who  have  discovered  the  causes  they  are  as  those 
who  have  only  eyes  are  in  regard  to  those  who  have  intellect. 
For  the  effects  are  as  it  were  sensible,  and  the  causes  are  visible 
only  to  the  intellect.  And  though  these  effects  too  are  appre¬ 
hended  through  reason,  yet  is  it  in  relation  to  the  reason  which 
apprehends  causes,  as  the  bodily  senses  are  to  the  intellect. 

Suppose  a  man  puts  himself  at  a  window  to  see  the  passers 
by.  If  I  pass  I  cannot  say  that  he  stood  there  to  see  me,  for  he 
does  not  think  of  me  in  particular.  Nor  does  any  one  who  loves 
another  on  account  of  beauty  really  love  that  person,  for  the 
small-pox,  which  kills  beauty  without  killing  the  person,  will  cause 
the  loss  of  love.  Nor  does  one  who  loves  me  for  my  judgment, 
my  memory,  love  me,  myself,  for  I  may  lose  those  qualities 
without  losing  my  identity.  Where  then  is  this  ‘  T  if  it  reside  not 
in  the  body  nor  in  the  soul,  and  how  love  the  body  or  the  soul, 
except  for  the  qualities  which  do  not  make  ‘  ;//<?,’  since  they  are 
perishable  ?  For  it  is  not  possible  and  it  would  be  unjust  to  love 
the  soul  of  a  person  in  the  abstract,  and  whatever  qualities  might 
be  therein.  So  then  we  do  not  love  a  person,  but  only  qualities. 
We  should  not  then  sneer  at  those  who  are  honoured  on  account 
of  rank  and  office,  for  we  love  no  one  save  for  borrowed  qualities. 

Time  heals  all  pain  and  misunderstanding,  because  we  change 
and  are  no  longer  the  same  persons.  Neither  the  offender  nor 
the  offended  are  any  more  themselves.  It  is  like  a  nation  which 
we  have  angered  and  meet  again  after  two  generations.  They 
are  Frenchmen  still,  but  not  the  same. 

Inco7istancy  and  singularity. — To  live  only  by  labour,  and 
to  reign  over  the  most  powerful  state  in  the  world,  are  very 
opposite  things.  They  are  united  in  the  person  of  the  grand 
Sultan  of  the  Turks. 


DEFECTS  OF  AT  A  FT. 


Si 


It  pleases  us  to  say  ‘Prince’  to  a  king,  because  it  lessens 
his  quality. 

Epigrams  of  Martial. — Men  like  malice,  but  not  against  one- 
eyed  men,  nor  against  the  unfortunate,  but  against  the  fortunate 
and  proud.  Those  who  think  otherwise  make  a  mistake. 

For  sensuality  is  the  source  of  all  our  movements,  and  hu¬ 
manity,  etc. 

We  must  please  those  whose  feelings  are  humane  and  tender. 

That  epigram  about  the  two  one-eyed  people  is  valueless,  for 
it  brings  them  no  consolation,  and  only  gives  a  point  to  the 
author’s  glory.  All  that  is  merely  for  the  sake  of  the  author  is 
valueless.  Ambitiosa  recidet  ornamenta. 

I  put  it  down  as  a  fact  that  if  all  men  knew  what  each  said  ot 
the  other,  there  would  not  be  four  friends  in  the  world.  This  is 
evident  from  the  quarrels  which  arise  from  indiscreet  reports 
made  from  time  to  time. 

Those  who  are  always  hopeful  in  adversity,  and  rejoice  in 
good  luck,  are  suspected  of  being  glad  of  failure  should  they 
not  be  correspondingly  depressed  under  bad  luck  ;  they  are 
delighted  to  find  pretexts  for  hoping,  in  order  to  show  that 
they  are  interested,  and  to  hide  by  the  joy  they  pretend  to  feel 
that  which  they  really  feel  at  the  ill  success  of  the  affair. 

Malignity  when  it  has  reason  on  its  side  becomes  proud,  and 
displays  reason  in  all  its  splendour. 

If  austerity  or  a  rigid  choice  have  not  found  the  true  good, 
and  we  must  needs  return  to  follow  nature,  it  becomes  proud  by 
reason  of  this  return. 

A  maker  of  epigrams, — a  bad  man. 

Do  you  wish  men  to  believe  good  of  you  ?  Then  say  none. 

We  ought  to  be  much  obliged  to  those  who  tell  us  of  our 
faults,  for  they  mortify  us,  they  teach  us  we  have  been  despised, 

G 


82  WEAKNESS ,  UNREST ,  AND 

they  do  not  prevent  our  being  so  in  the  future,  for  we  have 
many  other  faults  which  are  despicable.  They  prepare  for  us 
the  exercise  of  correction,  and  freedom  from  a  fault. 

If  we  would  reprove  with  success,  and  show  another  his  mis¬ 
take,  we  must  see  from  what  side  he  views  the  matter,  for  on 
that  side  it  is  generally  true,  and  admitting  that  truth,  show  him 
the  side  on  which  it  is  false.  He  will  be  satisfied,  for  he  will 
see  that  he  was  not  mistaken,  only  that  he  did  not  see  all  sides. 
Now,  no  one  is  vexed  at  not  seeing  every  thing.  But  we  do  not 
like  to  be  mistaken,  and  that  perhaps  arises  from  the  fact  that 
man  by  nature  cannot  see  everything,  and  that  by  nature  he 
cannot  be  mistaken  in  the  side  he  looks  at,  since  what  we 
apprehend  by  our  senses  is  always  true. 

I  passed  a  long  time  in  the  study  of  the  abstract  sciences,  and 
was  much  discouraged  at  finding  how  few  were  my  fellow- 
students.  When  I  began  the  study  of  man  I  saw  that  these 
abstract  sciences  were  not  fit  for  him,  and  that  I  was  wander¬ 
ing  more  from  my  true  state  in  investigating  them,  than  others 
in*  ignoring  them.  I  forgave  their  scanty  knowledge.  But 
I  thought  at  least  to  find  many  fellow-students  in  the  study  of 
man,  and  that  this  was  the  real  study  which  befits  us.  I  was 
deceived,  for  there  are  still  fewer  than  those  who  study  mathe¬ 
matics.  It  is  onlv  for  want  of  knowing  how  to  pursue  this  study 
that  we  seek  others.  But  is  it  not  that  even  here  is  not  the 
knowledge  that  man  should  have,  and  that  it  is  better  for  him  to 
be  ignorant  of  himself  in  ordei  to  be  happy  ? 

The  Vanity  of  Knowledge. — The  knowledge  of  external  things 
will  not  console  me  for  my  ignorance  of  ethics  in  time  of  affliction, 
but  the  science  of  morals  will  always  console  me  for  my  ignorance 

\  of  external  knowledge. 

There  are  plants  on  the  earth,  we  see  them,  but  they  could 
not  be  seen  from  the  moon.  On  these  plants  are  hairs,  and  in 
these  hairs  tiny  animals,  but  beyond  that,  nothing  more.  O,  pre¬ 
sumption  !  Compound  bodies  are  made  up  of  elements,  but 


DEFECTS  OF  MAN. 


83 

not  the  elementary  bodies  themselves.  0  presumption  !  Here 
is  a  fine  distinction.  We  must  not  assert  the  existence  of  what 
we  cannot  see,  we  must  then  say  what  others  say,  but  not  think 
with  them. 

The  world’s  judgment  is  right,  for  it  is  in  that  condition 
of  natural  ignorance  which  is  man’s  best  wisdom.  The 
sciences  have  two  extremes  which  meet.  The  first  is  that  pure 
natural  ignorance  in  which  every  man  is  born.  The  other  ex¬ 
treme  is  that  reached  by  great  minds,  who  having  run  through 
all  that  men  can  know,  find  that  they  know  nothing,  and  again 
come  round  to  the  same  ignorance  from  which  they  started  ;  but 
this  is  a  learned  ignorance,  conscious  of  itself.  Those  between 
the  two,  who  have  left  their  natural  ignorance  and  not  been  able 
to  reach  the  other,  have  some  tincture  of  this  vain  knowledge, 
and  assume  to  be  wise.  These  trouble  the  world,  and  judge 
all  things  falsely.  The  people  and  the  wise  make,  up  the  world  ; 
these  despise  it,  and  are  despised  ;  they  judge  ill  of  all  things, 
and  the  world  rightly  judges  of  them. 

Nature  has  made  all  her  truths  self-contained.  Our  art 
encloses  them  one  within  another,  but  that  is  not  according  to 
nature.  Each  holds  its  own  place. 

Spongia  soils. — When  we  see  the  same  effect  invariably  recur 
we  conclude  there  is  in  it  a  natural  necessity,  as  that  there  will  be 
a  to-morrow,  etc.  But  nature  often  gives  us  the  lie,  and  will  not 
subject  herself  to  her  own  rules. 

Nature  always  begins  the  same  things  again,  years,  days,  and 
hours,  and  in  like  manner  spaces  and  numbers  follow  each  other, 
end  without  end.  So  is  made  a  sort  of  infinity  and  eternity, 
not  that  any  thing  of  these  is  infinite  and  eternal,  but  these  finite 
entities  are  infinitely  multiplied. 

Thus  as  it  seems  to  me  the  number  which  multiplies  them 
alone  is  infinite. 

Nature  imitates  herself.  A  seed  sown  in  good  ground  brings 
forth  fruit.  A  principle  cast  into  a  good  mind  brings  forth  fruit. 


S4 


WEAKNESS ,  UNREST,  AND 

Numbers  imitate  space,  which  is  of  an  wholly  different  nature. 

All  is  made  and  guided  by  one  and  the  same  master,  root, 
branch  and  fruits  ;  principles  and  consequences. 

Nature  works  by  progress,  itus  et  reditus.  It  goes  and  returns, 
then  it  goes  further,  then  twice  as  much  backwards,  then  more 

forward  than  ever,  etc.  . 

So  is  it  with  the  tide  of  the  sea,  and  so  appaventlY  with  the 

course  of  the  sun. 

Every  one  is  all  in  all  to  himself,  for  he  being  dead,  all 
is  dead  to  him.  Hence  it  comes  that  each  man  believes  that 
he  is  all  to  all.  We  ought  not  to  judge  of  nature  by  ourselves, 

but  by  it. 

Self  is  hateful.  You  Miton,  conceal  self,  but  do  not  thereby 

destroy  it,  therefore  you  are  still  hateful. 

—Not  so,  for  in  acting  as  we  do,  to  oblige  every  body,  we  give 
no  reason  for  hating  us.-True,  if  we  only  hated  in  self  the 
vexation  which  it  causes  us. 

But  if  I  hate  it  because  it  is  unjust,  and  because  it  makes 

itself  the  centre  of  all,  I  shall  always  hate  it. 

In  one  word  Self  has  two  qualities,  it  is  unjust  in  its  essence 
because  it  makes  itself  the  centre  of  all,  it  is  inconvenient  to 
others  in  that  it  would  bring  them  into  subjection,  for  each  1 
is  the ’enemy,  and  would  fain  be  the  tyrant  of  all  others.  You 
take  away  the  inconvenience,  but  not  the  injustice,  and  thus  you 
do  not  render  it  loveable  to  those  who  hate  injustice  ;  you  render 
it  loveable  only  to  the  unjust,  who  find  in  it  an  enemy  no  longer. 
Thus  you  remain  unjust  and  can  please  none  but  the  unjust.  ^  ^ 
Of  Self-love. — The  nature  of  self-love  and  of  this  human  ‘  I’ 
is  to  love  self  only,  and  consider  self  only.  But  what  can  it 
do  ?  It  cannot  prevent  the  object  it  loves  from  being  full  of 
faults  and  miseries  ;  man  would  fain  be  great  and  sees  that  he 
is  little,  would  fain  be  happy,  and  sees  that  he  is  miserable, 
would  fain  be  perfect,  and  sees  that  he  is  full  of  imperfections, 
would  fain  be  the  object  of  the  love  and  esteem  of  men,  and  sees 
that  his  faults  merit  only  their  aversion  and  contempt.  The 


DEFECTS  OF  MAN. 


embarrassment  wherein  he  finds  himself  produces  in  him  the 
most  unjust  and  criminal  passion  imaginable,  for  he  conceives  a 
mortal  hatred  against  that  truth  which  blames  him  and  con¬ 
vinces  him  of  his  faults.  Desiring  to  annihilate  it,  yet  unable  to 
destroy  it  in  its  essence,  he  destroys  it  as  much  as  he  can  in  his 
own  knowledge,  and  in  that  of  others  ;  that  is  to  say,  he  devotes 
all  his  care  to  the  concealment  of  his  faults,  both  from  others 
and  from  himself,  and  he  can  neither  bear  that  others  should 
show  them  to  him,  nor  that  they  should  see  them. 

It  is  no  doubt  an  evil  to  be  full  of  faults,  but  it  is  a  greater 
evil  to  be  full  of  them,  yet  unwilling  to  recognise  them,  because 
that  is  to  add  the  further  fault  of  a  voluntary  illusion.  We  do 
not  like  others  to  deceive  us,  we  do  not  think  it  just  in  them  to 
require  more  esteem  from  us  than  they  deserve  ;  it  is  therefore 
unjust  that  we  should  deceive  them,  desiring  more  esteem  from 
them  than  we  deserve. 

Thus  if  they  discover  no  more  imperfections  and  vices  in  us 
than  we  really  have,  it  is  plain  they  do  us  no  wrong,  since  it 
is  not  they  who  cause  them  ;  but  rather  they  do  us  a  service, 
since  they  help  us  to  deliver  ourselves  from  an  evil,  the 
ignorance  of  these  imperfections.  We  ought  not  to  be  troubled 
that  they  know  our  faults  and  despise  us,  since  it  is  but  just 
they  should  know  us  as  we  are,  and  despise  us  if  we  are 
despicable. 

Such  are  the  sentiments  which  would  arise  in  a  heart  full  of 
equity  and  justice.  What  should  we  say  then  of  our  own  heart, 
finding  in  it  an  wholly  contrary  disposition?  For  is  it  not 
true  that  we  hate  truth,  and  those  who  tell  it  us,  and  that  we 
would  wish  them  to  have  an  erroneously  favourable  opinion 
of  us,  and  to  esteem  us  other  than  indeed  we  are  ? 

One  proof  of  this  fills  me  with  dismay.  The  Catholic  religion 
does  not  oblige  us  to  tell  out  our  sins  indiscriminately  to  all,  it 
allows  us  to  remain  hidden  from  men  in  general,  but  she  ex¬ 
cepts  one  alone,  to  whom  she  commands  us  to  open  the  very 
depths  of  our  heart,  and  to  show  ourselves  to  him  as  we  are. 
There  is  but  this  one  man  in  the  world  whom  she  orders  us  to 
undeceive  ;  she  binds  him  to  an  inviolable  secrecy,  so  that  this 
knowledge  is  to  him  as  though  it  were  not.  We  can  imagine 


86 


WEAKNESS,  UNREST,  AND 


nothing  more  charitable  and  more  tender.  Yet  such  is  the 
corruption  of  man,  that  he  finds  even  this  law  harsh,  and  it  is 
one  of  the  main  reasons  which  has  set  a  large  portion  of  Europe 
in  revolt  against  the  Church. 

How  unjust  and  unreasonable  is  the  human  heart  which  finds 
it  hard  to  be  obliged  to  do  in  regard  to  one  man  what  in  some 
degree  it  were  just  to  do  to  all  men.  For  is  it  just  that  we  should 
deceive  them  ? 

There  are  different  degrees  in  this  dislike  to  the  truth,  but  it 
may  be  said  that  all  have  it  in  some  degree,  for  it  is  inseparable 
from  self-love.  This  false  delicacy  causes  those  who  must  needs 
reprove  others  to  choose  so  many  windings  and  modifications  in 
order  to  avoid  shocking  them.  They  must  needs  lessen  our  faults, 
seem  to  excuse  them,  mix  praises  with  their  blame,  give  evi¬ 
dences  of  affection  and  esteem.  Yet  this  medicine  is  always 
bitter  to  self-love,  which  takes  as  little  as  it  can,  always  with  dis¬ 
gust,  often  with  a  secret  anger  against  those  who  administer  it. 

Hence  it  happens,  that  if  any  desire  our  love,  they  avoid  doing 
us  a  service  which  they  know  to  be  disagreeable  ;  they  treat  us 
as  we  would  wish  to  be  treated  :  we  hate  the  truth,  and  they 
hide  it  from  us  ;  we  wish  to  be  flattered,  they  flatter  us  ;  we  love 
to  be  deceived,  they  deceive  us. 

Thus  each  degree  of  good  fortune  which  raises  us  in  the 
world  removes  us  further  from  truth,  because  we  fear  most  to 
wound  those  whose  affection  is  most  useful,  and  whose  dislike 
is  most  dangerous.  A  prince  may  be  the  by-word  of  all  Europe, 
yet  he  alone  know  nothing  of  it.  I  am  not  surprised  ;  to  speak 
the  truth  is  useful  to  whom  it  is  spoken,  but  disadvantageous  to 
those  who  speak  it,  since  it  makes  them  hated.  Now  those  who 
live  with  princes  love  their  own  interests  more  than  that  of  the 
prince  they  serve,  and  thus  they  take  care  not  to  benefit  him  so 
as  to  do  themselves  a  disservice. 

This  misfortune  is,  no  doubt,  greater  and  more  common  in 
the  higher  classes,  but  lesser  men  are  not  exempt  from  it,  since 
there  is  always  an  interest  in  making  men  love  us.  Thus  human 
life  is  but  a  perpetual  illusion,  an  interchange  of  deceit  and 
flattery.  No  one  speaks  of  us  in  our  presence  as  in  our  absence. 
The  society  of  men  is  founded  on  this  universal  deceit :  few 


DEFECTS  OF  MAN. 


87 


friendships  would  last  if  every  man  knew  what  his  friend  said  of 
him  behind  his  back,  though  he  then  spoke  in  sincerity  and 
without  passion. 

Man  is  then  only  disguise,  falsehood,  and  hypocrisy,  both  in 
himself  and  with  regard  to  others.  He  will  not  be  told  the 
truth,  he  avoids  telling  it  to  others,  and  all  these  tendencies,  so 
far  removed  from  justice  and  reason,  have  their  natuial  roots  in 
hTsTreaftT 


-  » 

*  - 

•  •  »  t> 

»  V  -  .  t,  • 

-  .  » 


THE  HAPPINESS  OF  MAN  WITH  GOD; 

OR, 


THAT  THE  SCRIPTURE  SHOWS  A  REDEEMER. 


PREFACE  TO  THE  SECOND  PART. 


To  speak  of  those  who  have  treated  of  this  subject. 

I  wonder  at  the  boldness  with  which  these  persons  undertake 
to  speak  of  God,  in  addressing  their  words  to  the  irreligious. 
Their  first  chapter  is  to  prove  Divinity  by  the  works  of  nature. 
I  should  not  be  astonished  at  their  undertaking  if  they 
addressed  their  argument  to  the  faithful,  for  it  is  certain  that 
those  who  have  a  lively  faith  in  their  heart  see  at  once  that  all 
that  exists  is  none  other  than  the  work  of  the  God  whom  they 
adore.  But  for  those  in  whom  this  light  is  extinguished,  and  in 
whom  we  desire  to  revive  it,  men  destitute  of  faith  and  grace 
who,  seeking  with  all  their  light  whatever  they  see  in  nature  to 
lead  them  to  this  knowledge,  find  only  clouds  and  darkness, — 
to  tell  them  they  need  only  look  at  the  smallest  things  which 
surround  them  in  order  to  see  God  unveiled,  to  give  them  as 
the  sole  proof  of  this  great  and  important  subject,  the  course  of 
the  moon  and  planets,  and  to  say  that  with  such  an  argument  we 
have  accomplished  the  proof ;  is  to  give  them  ground  for  belief 
that  the  proofs  of  our  Religion  are  very  feeble.  Indeed  I  see  by 
reason  and  experience  that  nothing  is  more  fitted  to  excite 
contempt. 

Not  after  this  fashion  speaks  the  Scripture,  which  knows 
better  than  we  the  things  of  God.  It  says,  on  the  contrary, 
that  God  is  a  God  who  hides  himself,  and  that  since  nature 
became  corrupt,  he  has  left  men  in  a  blindness  from  which 
they  can  only  escape  by  Jesus  Christ,  and  except  through  him 
we  are  cut  off  from  all  communication  with  God.  Nemo  novit 
Pat rcm,  nisi  Films ,  et  aii  voluerit  Filins  revelare. 

This  is  what  Scripture  indicates  when  it  says  in  so  many 
places  that  those  who  seek  God  find  him.  It  is  not  of  a  light 
like  the  sun  at  noonday  that  they  thus  speak.  No  one  says 


92 


PREFACE  TO  THE  SECOND  PART. 


that  those  who  seek  the  sun  at  noonday,  or  water  in  the  sea 
shall  find  them,  and  thus  it  follows  that  the  evidence  for  God  is 
not  of  that  kind.  Therefore  it  says  to  us  elsewhere  :  Vere  tu  es 

Dens  abscofiditus. 

The  metaphysical  proofs  of  God  are  so  apart  from  man’s 
reason,  and  so  complicated  that  they  are  but  little  striking,  and 
if  they  are  of  use  to  any,  it  is  only  during  the  moment  that  the 
demonstration  is  before  them,  but  an  hour  afterwards  they  fear 
they  have  been  mistaken. 

Quod  curiositate  cognoverint ,  sitpcrbia  amiserunt. 

Such  is  the  outcome  of  the  knowledge  of  God  gained  without 
Jesus  Christ,  for  this  is  to  communicate  without  a  mediator  with 
the  God  whom  they  have  known  without  a  mediator. 

Instead  of  which  those  who  have  known  God  by  a  mediator 
know  their  own  wretchedness. 

Jesus  Christ  is  the  goal  of  all,  and  the  centre  to  which  all 
tends.  Who  knows  him  knows  the  reason  of  all  things. 

Those  who  go  astray  only  do  so  from  failing  to  see  one  of 
these  two  things.  It  is  then  possible  to  know  God  without 
knowing  our  w’retchedness,  and  to  know  our  wretchedness 
without  knowing  God;  but  we  cannot  know  Jesus  Christ 
without  knowing  at  the  same  time  God  and  our  wietchedness. 

Therefore  I  do  not  here  undertake  to  prove  by  natural  rea¬ 
sons  either  the  existence  of  God  or  the  Trinity,  or  the  immor¬ 
tality  of  the  soul,  nor  anything  of  that  sort,  not  only  because  I 
do  not  feel  myself  strong  enough  to  find  in  nature  proofs  to 
convince  hardened  atheists,  but  also,  because  this  knowledge 
without  Jesus  Christ  is  useless  and  barren.  Though  a  man 
should  be  persuaded  that  the  proportions  of  numbers  are 
immaterial  truths,  eternal,  and  dependent  on  a  first  truth  in 
whom  they  subsist,  and  who  is  called  God,  I  should  not  consider 
him  far  advanced  towards  his  salvation. 

The  God  of  Christians  is  not  a  God  who  is  simply  the  author 
of  mathematical  truths,  or  of  the  order  of  the  elements,  as  is 
the  god  of  the  heathen  and  of  Epicureans.  Nor  is  he  merely  a 
God  who  providentially  disposes  the  life  and  fortunes  of  men,  to 


rREFACE  TO  THE  SECOND  FART. 


93 


crown  his  worshippers  with  length  of  happy  years.  Such  was  the 
portion  of  the  Jews.  But  the  God  of  Abraham,  the  God  of  Isaac, 
the  God  of  Jacob,  the  God  of  Christians,  is  a  God  of  love  and 
consolation,  a  God  who  fills  the  souls  and  hearts  of  his  own,  a 
God  who  makes  them  feel  their  inward  wretchedness,  and  his 
infinite  mercy,  who  unites  himself  to  their  inmost  spirit,  filling 
it  with  humility  and  joy,  with  confidence  and  love,  rendering 
them  incapable  of  any  end  other  than  himself. 

All  who  seek  God  apart  from  Jesus  Christ,  and  who  rest  in 
nature,  either  find  no  light  to  satisfy  them,  or  form  for  themselves 
a  means  of  knowing  God  and  serving  him  without  a  mediator. 
Thus  they  fall  either  into  atheism,  or  into  deism,  two  things 
which  the  Christian  religion  almost  equally  abhors. 

The  God  of  Christians  is  a  God  who  makes  the  soul  perceive 
that  he  is  her  only  good,  that  her  only  rest  is  in  him,  her 
only  joy  in  loving  him ;  who  makes  her  at  the  same  time 
abhor  the  obstacles  which  withhold  her  from  loving  him  with 
all  her  strength.  Her  two  hindrances,  self-love  and  lust,  are 
insupportable  to  her.  This  God  makes  her  perceive  that  the 
root  of  self-love  destroys  her,  and  that  he  alone  can  heal. 

The  knowledge  of  God  without  that  of  our  wretchedness 
creates  pride.  The  knowledge  of  our  wretchedness  without 
that  of  God  creates  despair.  The  knowledge  of  Jesus  Christ 
is  the  middle  way,  because  in  him  we  find  both  God  and  our 
wretchedness. 


OF  THE  NEED  OF  SEEKING  TRUTH . 


Second  Part.  That  man  without  faith  cannot  knoiv  the 
true  good,  nor  justice. 

All  men  seek  happiness.  To  this  there  is  no  exception,  what 
different  means  soever  they  employ,  all  tend  to  this  goal.  The 
reason  that  some  men  go  to  the  wars  and  others  avoid  them  is 
but  the  same  desire  attended  in  each  with  different  views.  Our 
will  makes  no  step  but  towards  this  object.  This  is  the  motive 
of  every  action  of  every  man,  even  of  him  who  hangs  himself. 

And  yet  after  so  many  years,  no  one  without  faith  has  arrived 
at  the  point  to  which  all  eyes  are  turned.  All  complain,  princes 
and  subjects,  nobles  and  commons,  old  and  young,  strong  and 
weak,  learned  and  ignorant,  sound  and  sick,  of  all  countries,  all 
times,  all  ages,  and  all  conditions. 

A  trial  so  long,  so  constant:  and  so  uniform,  should  surely 
convince  us  of  our  inability  to  arrive  at  good  by  our  own  strength, 
but  example  teaches  us  but  little.  No  resemblance  is  so  exact  but 
that  there  is  some  slight  difference,  and  hence  we  expect  that  our 
endeavour  will  not  be  foiled  on  this  occasion  as  before.  Thus 
while  the  present  never  satisfies,  experience  deceives  us,  and  from 
misfortune  to  misfortune  leads  us  on  to  death,  eternal  crown  of 
sorrows. 

This  desire,  and  this  weakness  cry  aloud  to  us  that  there  was 
once  in  man  a  true  happiness,  of  which  there  now  remains  to 
him  but  the  mark  and  the  empty  trace,  which  he  vainly  tries 
to  fill  from  all  that  surrounds  him,  seeking  from  things  absent 
the  succour  he  finds  not  in  things  present  ;  and  these  are  all 


THE  NEED  OF  SEEKING  TRUTH . 


q6 

inadequate,  because  this  infinite  void  can  only  be  filled  by  an 
infinite  and  immutable  object,  that  is  to  say,  only  by  God 
himself. 

He  only  is  our  true  good,  and  since  we  have  left  him,  it  is 
strange  that  there  is  nothing  in  nature  which  has  not  served  to 
take  his  place  ;  neither  the  stars,  nor  heaven,  earth,  the  elements, 
plants,  cabbages,  leeks,  animals,  insects,  calves,  serpents,  fever, 
pestilence,  war,  famine,  vices,  adultery,  incest.  And  since  he  has 
lost  the  true  good,  all  things  can  equally  appear  good  to  him, 
even  his  own  destruction,  though  so  contrary  to  God,  to  reason, 
and  to  the  whole  course  of  nature. 

Some  seek  good  in  authority,  others  in  research  and  know¬ 
ledge,  others  in  pleasure.  Others,  who  indeed  are  nearer  the 
truth,  have  considered  it  necessary  that  the  universal  good 
which  all  men  desire  should  not  consist  in  any  of  those  particular 
matters  which  can  only  be  possessed  by  one,  and  which  if 
once  shared,  afflict  their  possessor  more  by  the  want  of  what 
he  has  not,  than  they  gladden  him  by  the  joy  of  what  he  has. 
They  have  apprehended  that  the  true  good  should  be  such  as  all 
may  possess  at  once,  without  diminution,  and  without  envy,  and 
that  which  none  can  lose  against  his  will.  And  their  reason  is 
that  this  desire  being  natural  to  man,  since  it  exists  necessarily 
in  all,  and  that  all  must  have  it,  they  conclude  from  it  .  .  . 

Infinite ,  nothing. — The  soul  of  man  is  cast  into  the  body,  in 
which  it  finds  number,  time,  dimension  ;  it  reasons  thereon, 
and  calls  this  nature  or  necessity,  and  cannot  believe  aught 
else. 

Unity  joined  to  infinity  increases  it  not,  any  more  than  a  foot 
measure  added  to  infinite  space.  The  finite  is  annihilated  in 
presence  of  the  infinite  and  becomes  simply  nought.  Thus  our 
intellect  before  God,  thus  our  justice  before  the  divine  justice. 
There  is  not  so  great  a  disproportion  between  our  justice  and 
that  of  God,  as  between  unity  and  infinity. 

The  justice  of  God  must  be  as  vast  as  his  mercy,  but  justice 
towards  the  reprobate  is  less  vast,  and  should  be  less  amazing 
than  mercy  towards  the  elect. 

We  know  that  there  is  an  infinite,  but  are  ignorant  of  its 


THE  NEED  OF  SEEKING  TRUTH. 


97 


nature.  As  we  know  it  to  be  false,  that  numbers  are  finite,  it 
must  therefore  be  true  that  there  is  an  infinity  in  number,  but 
what  this  is  we  know  not.  It  can  neither  be  odd  nor  even, 
for  the  addition  of  an  unit  can  make  no  change  in  the 
nature  of  number  ;  yet  it  is  a  number,  and  every  number  is 
either  odd  or  even,  at  least  this  is  understood  of  every  finite 
number. 

Thus  we  may  well  know  that  there  is  a  God,  without  knowing 
what  he  is. 

We  know  then  the  existence  and  the  nature  of  the  finite, 
because  we  also  are  finite  and  have  dimension. 

We  know  the  existence  of  the  infinite,  and  are  ignorant  of  its 
nature,  because  it  has  dimension  like  us,  but  not  limits  like  us. 
But  we  know  neither  the  existence  nor  the  nature  of  God,  because 
he  has  neither  dimension  nor  limits. 

But  by  faith  we  know  his  existence,  by  glory  we  shall  know 
his  nature.  Now  I  have  already  shown  that  we  can  know  well 
the  existence  of  a  thing  without  knowing  its  nature. 

Let  us  now  speak  according  to  the  light  of  nature. 

•TLibere  be  a  God,  he  is  infinitely  incomprehensible,  since 
having  neither  parts  nor  limits  he  has  no  relation  to  us.  We 
are  then  incapable  of  knowing  either  what  he  is  or  if  he  is. 
This  being  so,  who  will  dare  to  undertake  the  solution  of  the 
question  ?  Not  we,  who  have  no  relation  to  him. 

Who  then  will  blame  Christians  for  not  being  able  to  give  a 

reason  for  their  faith ;  those  who  profess  a  religion  for  which  they 

cannot  give  a  reason  ?  They  declare  in  putting  it  forth  to  the 

world  that  it  is  a  foolishness,  stultitiam ,  and  then  you  complain 

that  they  do  not  prove  it.  Were  they  to  prove  it  they  would  not 

keep  their  word,  it  is  in  lacking  proof  that  they  are  not  lacking 

in  sense.— Yes,  but  although  this  excuses  those  who  offer  it  as 

such,  and  takes  away  from  them  the  blame  of  putting  it  forth 

without  reason,  it  does  not  excuse  those  who  receive  it.— Let  us 

then  examine  this  point,  and  say  “  God  is,  or  he  is  not.”  But  to 

which  side  shall  we  incline  ?  Reason  can  determine  nothin^ 
_  £> 

about  it.  There  is  an  infinite  gulf  fixed  between  us.  A  game 
is  playing  at  the  extremity  of  this  infinite  distance  in  which  heads 
or  tails  may  turn  up.  What  will  you  wager  ?  There  is  no  reason 

H 


9S  THE  NEED  OF  SEEKING  TRUTH. 

for  backing  either  one  or  the  other,  you  cannot  reasonably 
argue  in  favour  of  either. 

o  not  then  accuse  of  error  those  who  have  already  chosen, 
for  you  know  nothing  about  it. — No,  but  I  blame  them  for  having 
made,  not  this  choice,  but  a  choice,  for  again  both  the  man  who 
calls  4  heads  ’  and  his  adversary  are  equally  to  blame,  they  are 
both  in  the  wrong ;  the  true  course  is  not  to  wager  at  all. — 

Yes,  but  you  must  wager  ;  this  depends  not  on  your  will,  you 
are  embarked  in  the  affair.  Which  will  you  choose?  Let  us  see. 
Since  you  must  choose,  let  us  see  which  least  interests  you.  You 
have  two  things  to  lose,  truth  and  good,  and  two  things  to  stake, 
your  reason  and  your  will,  your  knowledge  and  your  happiness  ; 
and  your  nature  has  two  things  to  avoid,  error  and  misery. 
Since  you  must  needs  choose,  your  reason  is  no  more  wounded 
in  choosing  one  than  the  other.  Here  is  one  point  cleared  up,  but 
what  of  your  happiness  ?  Let  us  weigh  the  gain  and  the  loss  in 
choosing  heads  that  God  is.  Let  us  weigh  the  two  cases  :  if  you 
gain,  you  gain  all ;  if  you  lose,  you  lose  nothing.  Wager  then 
unhesitatingly  that  he  is.— You  are  right.  Yes,  I  must  wager, 
but  I  may  stake  too  much. — Let  us  see.  Since  there  is  an 
equal  chance  of  gain  and  loss,  if  you  had  only  to  gain  two  li\  es 
for  one,  you  might  still  wager.  But  were  there  three  of  them  to 
gain,  you  would  have  to  play,  since  needs  must  that  you  play,  and 
you  would  be  imprudent,  since  you  must  play,  not  to  chance  your 
life  to  gain  three  at  a  game  where  the  chances  of  loss  or  gain  are 
even.  But  there  is  an  eternity  of  life  and  happiness.  And  that 
being  so,  were  there  an  infinity  of  chances  of  which  one  only 
would  be  for  you,  you  would  still  be  right  to  stake  one  to  win  two, 
and  you  would  act  foolishly,  being  obliged  to  play,  did  you  refuse 
to  stake  one  life  against  three  at  a  game  in  which  out  of  an 
infinity  of  chances  there  be  one  for  you,  if  there  were  an  infinity 
of  an  infinitely  happy  life  to  win.  But  there  is  here  an  infinity 
of  an  infinitely  happy  life  to  win,  a  chance  of  gain  against  a  finite 
number  of  chances  of  loss,  and  what  you  stake  is  finite  ;  that 
is  decided.  Wherever  the  infinite  exists  and  there  is  not 
an  infinity  of  chances  of  loss  against  that  of  gain,  there  is  no 
room  for  hesitation,  you  must  risk  the  whole.  Thus  when  a  man 
is  forced  to  play  he  must  renounce  reason  to  keep  life,  rather 


THE  NEED  OF  SEEKING  TRUTH 


99 


than  hazard  it  for  infinite  gain,  which  is  as  likely  to  happen  as 
the  loss  of  nothingness. 

For  it  is  of  no  avail  to  say  it  is  uncertain  that  we  gain,  and 
certain  that  we  risk,  and  that  the  infinite  distance  between  the 
certainty  of  that  which  is  staked  and  the  uncertainty  of  what  we 
shall  gain,  equals  the  finite  good  which  is  certainly  staked 
against  an  uncertain  infinite.  This  is  not  so.  Every  gambler 
stakes  a  certainty  to  gain  an  uncertainty,  and  yet  he  stakes  a 
finite  certainty  against  a  finite  uncertainty  without  acting 
unreasonably.  It  is  false  to  say  there  is  infinite  distance 
between  the  certain  stake  and  the  uncertain  gain.  There  is 
in  truth  an  infinity  between  the  certainty  of  gain  and  the 
certainty  of  loss.  But  the  uncertainty  of  gain  is  proportioned 
to  the  certainty  of  the  stake,  according  to  the  proportion  of 
chances  of  gain  and  loss,  and  if  therefore  there  are  as  many 
chances  on  one  side  as  on  the  other,  the  game  is  even.  And  thus 
the  certainty  of  the  venture  is  equal  to  the  uncertainty  of  the 
winnings,  so  far  is  it  from  the  truth  that  there  is  infinite  distance 
between  them.  So  that  our  argument  is  of  infinite  force,  if  we 
stake  the  finite  in  a  game  where  there  are  equal  chances  of  gain 
and  loss,  and  the  infinite  is  the  winnings.  This  is  demonstrable, 
and  if  men  are  capable  of  any  truths,  this  is  one. 

I  confess  and  admit  it.  Yet  is  there  no  means  of  seeing  the 
hands  at  the  game  ? — Yes,  the  Scripture  and  the  rest,  etc. 

— Well,  but  my  hands  are  tied  and  my  mouth  is  gagged  :  I  am 
forced  to  wager  and  am  not  free,  none  can  release  me,  but  I  am  so 
made  that  I  cannot  believe.  What  then  would  you  have  me  do  ? 

True.  But  understand  at  least  your  incapacity  to  believe, 
since  your  reason  leads  you  to  belief  and  yet  you  cannot 
believe.  Labour  then  to  convince  yourself,  not  by  increase  of  the 
proofs  of  God,  but  by  the  diminution  of  your  passions.  You 
would  fain  arrive  at  fa'th,  but  know  not  the  way ;  you  would 
heal  yourself  of  unbelief,  and  you  ask  remedies  for  it.  Learn  of 
those  who  have  been  bound  as  you  are,  but  who  now  stake 
all  that  they  possess;  these  are  they  who  know  the  way  you 
would  follow,  who  are  cured  of  a  disease  of  which  you  would  be 
cured.  Follow  the  way  by  which  they  began,  by  making  believe 
that  they  believed,  taking  the  holy  water,  having  masses  said, 


IOO 


THE  NEED  OF  SEEKING  TRUTH. 


etc.  Thus  you  will  naturally  be  brought  to  believe,  and  will  lose 
your  acuteness. — But  that  is  just  what  I  fear. — Why?  what  have 
you  to  lose  ? 

But  to  show  you  that  this  is  the  right  way,  this  it  is  that  will 
lessen  the  passions,  which  are  your  great  obstacles,  etc. — 

What  you  say  comforts  and  delights  me,  etc. — If  my  words 
please  you,  and  seem  to  you  cogent,  know  that  they  are 
those  of  one  who  has  thrown  himself  on  his  knees  before  and 
after  to  pray  that  Being,  infinite,  and  without  parts,  to  whom  he 
submits  all  his  own  being,  that  you  also  would  submit  to  him  all 
yours,  for  your  own  good  and  for  his  glory,  and  that  this  strength 
may  be  in  accord  with  this  weakness. 

The. end  of  this  argument. — Now  what  evil  will  happen  to  you 
in  taking  this  side  ?  You  will  be  trustworthy,  honourable,  humble, 
grateful,  generous,  friendly,  sincere,  and  true.  In  truth  you  will 
no  longer  have  those  poisoned  pleasures,  glory  and  luxury, but  you 
will  have  other  pleasures.  I  tell  you  that  you  will  gain  in  this 
life,  at  each  step  you  make  in  this  path  you  will  see  so  much 
certainty  of  gain,  so  much  nothingness  in  what  you  stake,  that 
you  will  know  at  last  that  you  have  wagered  on  a  certainty,  an 
infinity,  for  which  you  have  risked  nothing. 

Objection. — Those  who  hope  for  salvation  are  so  far  happy, 
but  they  have  as  a  counterpoise  the  fear  of  hell. 

Answer. — Who  has  most  reason  to  fear  hell,  the  man  who  is  in 
ignorance  if  there  be  a  hell,  and  who  is  certain  of  damnation  if 
there  be  ;  or  he  who  is  certainly  convinced  that  there  is  a  hell, 
and  has  a  hope  of  being  saved  if  there  be  ? 

“  I  would  soon  have  given  up  pleasure,”  say  they,  “  had  I  but 
faith.”  But  I  say  to  you,  “  you  would  soon  have  faith  did  you 
leave  off  your  pleasures.  Now  it  is  for  you  to  begin.  If  I  could, 
I  would  give  you  faith.  I  cannot- do  this,  nor  discover  therefore 
if  what  you  say  is  true.  But  you  can  easily  give  up  pleasure, 
and  discover  if  what  I  say  is  true.” 

Probabilities. — We  must  live  differently  in  the  world,  according 
to  these  different  suppositions  : 


THE  NEED  OF  SEEKING  TRUTH. 


IOI 


i.  That  we  could  always  remain  in  it.  2.  That  it  is  certain 
we  cannot  remain  here  long,  and  uncertain  if  we  shall  remain 
here  an  hour.  This  last  supposition  is  the  case  with  us. 

Instability—  It  is  horrible  to  feel  all  that  we  possess  slipping 
away  from  us. 

By  the  law  of  probabilities  you  are  bound  to  take  pains  to 
seek  the  truth ;  for  if  you  die  without  adoring  the  true  source  of 
all  things  you  are  lost.  “But,”  say  you,  “had  he  willed  that  I 
should  adore  him,  he  would  have  left  me  tokens  of  his  will.” 
He  has  done  so,  but  you  neglect  them.  Seek  them  then,  it  is 
well  worth  your  while. 

Dungeon. — I  admit  that  it  is  not  necessary  to  fathom  the 
opinion  of  Copernicus,  but  this  : 

It  is  all  our  life  is  worth  to  know  if  the  soul  be  mortal  or 
immortal. 

Fascinatio  nugacitatis. — In  order  that  passion  may  do  no 
hurt,  we  should  act  as  though  we  had  but  a  week  to  live. 

If  we  ought  to  give  a  week  we  ought  to  give  our  whole  life. 

In  short,  what  is  it  you  promise  me  if  not  ten  years  of  self- 
love  spent  in  trying  hard  to  please  without  success,  besides  the 
troubles  which  are  certain  ?  For  ten  years  is  the  probability. 

Let  us  imagine  a  number  of  men  in  chains,  all  condemned  to 
death,  of  whom  some  are  strangled  every  day  in  the  sight  of 
the  others,  while  those  who  remain  see  their  own  condition  in  that 
of  their  fellows,  and  wait  their  turn  looking  at  each  other  sorrow¬ 
fully  and  without  hope.  This  is  an  image  of  the  lot  of  man. 

We  must  know  ourselves,  and  if  that  does  not  serve  to  dis¬ 
cover  truth,  it  at  least  serves  to  regulate  our  lives,  and  there  is 
nothing  more  just. 

There  are  but  three  classes  of  persons  :  those  who  having 


102 


THE  NEED  OF  SEEKING  TRUTH. 


found  God,  serve  him ;  those  who  not  having  found  him,  dili¬ 
gently  seek  him  ;  those  who  not  having  found  him,  live  without 
seeking  him.  The  first  are  happy  and  wise,  the  last  are  unhappy 
and  fools,  those  between  are  unhappy,  but  they  are  wise. 

It  is  certain  that  there  is  no  good  without  the  knowledge  of 
God,  that  only  as  we  approach  him  are  we  happy,  and  that  the 
ultimate  good  is  to  know  him  certainly ;  that  we  are  unhappy  in 
proportion  as  we  are  removed  from  him,  and  that  the  greatest 
evil  would  be  certainty  of  the  opposite. 

The  ordinary  world  has  the  power  of  not  thinking  about  what  it 
does  not  choose  to  think  about.  “  Do  not  reflect  on  those  passages 
about  the  Messiah,”  said  the  Jew  to  his  son.  So  our  people  often 
act.  Thus  false  religions  are  preserved,  and  the  true  also, 
as  regards  many  people. 

But  there  are  those  who  have  not  thus  the  power  of  pre¬ 
venting  thought,  and  who  think  the  more  the  more  we  forbid 
them.  These  get  rid  of  false  religions,  and  of  the  true  also,  if 
they  do  not  find  solid  reasons. 

If  we  ought  to  do  nothing  save  on  a  certainty,  we  ought  to  do 
nothing  for  Religion,  for  this  is  not  certain.  But  how  much  we  do 
on  an  uncertainty,  as  sea  voyages,  battles  !  I  say  then  if  this  be 
the  case  we  ought  to  do  nothing  at  all,  for  nothing  is  certain,  and 
that  there  is  more  certainty  in  Religion  than  that  we  shall  see 
another  day,  for  it  is  not  certain  that  we  shall  see  to-morrow,  but 
it  is  certainly  possible  that  we  shall  not  see  it.  We  cannot  say 
so  much  about  Religion.  It  is  not  certain  that  it  is,  but  who  will 
dare  to  say  that  it  is  certainly  possible  that  it  is  not  ?  But  when 
we  work  for  to-morrow,  therefore  for  the  uncertain,  we  act 
reasonably. 

For  we  should  work  for  the  uncertain  by  the  doctrine  of 
chances  already  laid  down. 

We  know  truth,  not  only  by  the  reason,  but  also  by  the  heart, 
and  it  is  from  this  last  that  we  know  first  principles  ;  and  reason, 
which  has  nothing  to  do  with  it,  tries  in  vain  to  combat  them. 


THE  NEED  OF  SEEKING  TRUTH. 


103 

The  sceptics  who  desire  truth  alone  labour  in  vain.  We  know 
that  we  do  not  dream,  although  it  is  impossible  to  prove  it  by- 
reason,  and  this  inability  shows  only  the  weakness  of  our  reason, 
and  not,  as  they  declare,  the  general  uncertainty  of  our  knowledge. 
For  our  knowledge  of  first  principles,  as  space,  time ,  motion ,  num¬ 
ber ,  is  as  distinct  as  any  principle  derived  from  reason.  And 
reason  must  lean  necessarily  on  this  instinctive  knowledge  of  the 
heart,  and  must  found  on  it  every  process.  We  know  instinctively 
that  there  are  three  dimensions  in  space,  and  that  numbers  are 
infinite,  and  reason  then  shows  that  there  are  no  two  square 
numbers  one  of  which  is  double  of  the  other.  We  feel  principles, 
we  infer  propositions,  both  with  certainty,  though  by  different 
ways.  It  is  as  useless  and  absurd  for  reason  to  demand  from 
the  heart  proofs  of  first  principles  before  it  will  admit  them,  as 
it  would  be  for  the  heart  to  ask  from  reason  a  feeling  of  all  the 
propositions  demonstrated  before  accepting  them. 

This  inability  should  serve  then  only  to  humiliate  reason,  which 
would  fain  judge  of  all  things,  but  not  to  shake  our  certainty,  as 
if  only  reason  were  able  to  instruct  us.  Would  to  God,  on  the 
contrary,  that  we  never  needed  reason,  and  that  we  knew  every 
thing  by  instinct  and  feeling!  But  nature  has  denied  us  this 
advantage,  and  has  on  the  contrary  given  us  but  little  knowledge 
of  this  kind,  all  the  rest  can  be  acquired  by  reason  only. 

Therefore  those  to  whom  God  has  given  Religion  by  an- 
instinctive  feeling,  are  very  blessed,  and  justly  convinced.  But 
to  those  who  have  it  not  we  can  give  it  only  by  reasoning, 
waiting  for  the  time  when  God  shall  impress  it  on  their  hearts, 
without  which  faith  is  human  only,  and  useless  for  salvation. 

Those  to  whom  God  has  given  Religion  by  an  instinctive 
feeling  are  very  blessed,  and  quite  convinced.  But  as  for 
those  who  have  it  not,  we  can  give  it  them  only  by  reasoning, 
waiting  for  the  time  when  God  himself  shall  impress  it  on  their 
heart,  without  which  faith  is  useless  for  salvation. 

Is  then  the  soul  too  noble  a  subject  for  the  feeble  light 
of  man  ?  Let  us  then  abase  the  soul  to  matter,  and  see  if  she 
knows  whereof  is  made  the  very  body  which  she  animates,  and 


104  THE  NEED  OF  SEEKING  TRUTH. 

those  others  which  she  contemplates  and  moves  at  her  will. 
On  this  subject  what  have  those  great  dogmatists  known  who 
are  ignorant  of  nothing  ? 

Hcirum  sententiamm. 

This  would  no  doubt  suffice  if  reason  were  reasonable.  She  is 
reasonable  enough  to  admit  that  she  has  never  found  anything 
stable,  but  she  does  not  yet  despair  of  reaching  it ;  on  the 
contrary,  she  is  as  ardent  as  ever  in.  the  search,  and  is  sure  that 
she  has  in  herself  all  the  necessary  powers  foi  this  conquest. 

We  must  therefore  make  an  end,  and  aftei  having  examined 
these  powers  in  their  effects,  recognise  what  they  are  in  them¬ 
selves,  and  see  if  reason  has  power  and  grasp  capable  ot  seizing 
the  truth. 

The  Preacher  shows  that  man  without  God  is  wholly  ignorant, 
and  subject  to  inevitable  misery.  F or  to  will  and  to  be  powerless 
is  to  be  miserable.  Now  he  wills  to  be  happy,  and  to  be  assured 
of  some  truth,  yet  he  can  neither  know,  nor  not  desire  to  know. 
He  cannot  even  doubt. 

This  is  what  I  see  and  what  troubles  me.  I  look  on  all  sides, 
and  see  nothing  but  obscurity,  nature  offers  me  nothing  but 
matter  for  doubt  and  disquiet.  Did  I  see  nothing  there  which 
marked  a  Divinity  I  should  decide  not  to  believe  in  him.  Did 
I  see  every  where  the  marks  of  a  Creator,  I  should  lest  peacefully 
in  faith.  But  seeing  too  much  to  deny,  and  too  little  to  affirm, 
my  state  is  pitiful,  and  I  have  a  hundred  times  wished  that  if 
God  upheld  nature,  he  would  mark  the  fact  unequivocally, but  that 
if  the  signs  which  she  gives  of  a  God  are  fallacious,  she  would 
wholly  suppress  them,  that  she  would  either  say  all  or  say  nothing, 
that  I  might  see  what  part  I  should  take.  W hile  in  my  present 
state,  ignorant  of  what  I  am,  and  of  what  I  ought  to  do,  I  know 
neither  my  condition  nor  my  duty,  my  heart  is  wholly  bent  to 
know  where  is  the  true  good  in  order  to  follow  it,  nothing  would 
seem  to  me  too  costly  for  eternity. 


THE  PHILOSOPHERS. 


THE  principal  arguments  of  the  sceptics— to  omit  those  of  less 
importance— are  that  we  have  no  certainty  of  the  truth  of  these 
principles  apart  from  faith  and  revelation,  save  so  far  as  we 
naturally  perceive  them  in  ourselves.  Now  this  natural  percep¬ 
tion  is  no  convincing  evidence  of  their  truth,  since,  having  no 
certainty  apart  from  faith,  whether  man  was  created  by  a  good 
God,  by  an  evil  demon,  or  by  chance,  it  maybe  doubted  whether 
these  principles  within  us  are  true  or  false  or  uncertain  accoiding 
to  our  origin. 

And  more  than  this  :  That  no  one  has  any  certainty,  apart 
from  faith,  whether  he  wake  or  sleep,  seeing  that  in  sleep  we 
firmly  believe  we  are  awake,  we  believe  that  we  see  space,  figure, 
and  motion,  we  are  aware  of  the  lapse  and  measure  of  time  ,  in 
a  word  we  act  as  though  we  were  awake.  So  that  half  of  our  life 
being  passed  in  sleep,  we  have  by  our  own  avowal,  no  idea  of 
truth,  whatever  we  may  suppose.  Since  then  all  our  sentiments 
are  illusions,  who  can  tell  but  that  the  other  half  of  life  wherein 
we  fancy  ourselves  awake  be  not  another  sleep  somewhat  different 
from  the  former,  from  which  we  wake  when  we  fancy  ourselves 

asleep  ? 

And  who  doubts  that  if  we  dreamt  in  company,  and  if  by 
chance  men’s  dreams  agreed,  which  is  common  enough,  and  if 
we  were  always  alone  when  awake,  we  should  believe  that  the 
conditions  were  reversed  ?  In  a  word,  as  we  often  dream  that  we 
dream,  and  heap  vision  upon  vision,  it  may  well  be  that  this  life 
itself  is  but  a  dream,  on  which  the  others  are  grafted,  from 
which  we  wake  at  death  ;  having  in  our  lifetime  as  few  principles 
of  what  is  good  and  true,  as  during  natural  sleep,  the  different 
thoughts  which  agitate  us  being  perhaps  only  illusions  like  those 
of  the  flight  of  time  and  the  vain  fantasies  of  our  dreams  .  .  . 


io6 


THE  PHILOSOPHERS. 


These  are  the  principal  arguments  on  one  side  and  the  other, 
setting  aside  those  of  less  importance,  such  as  the  talk  of  the 
sceptics  against  the  impressions  of  custom,  education,  manners, 
climate,  and  the  like  ;  and  these  though  they  influence  the 
majority  of  ordinary  men,  who  dogmatise  only  on  vain  founda¬ 
tions,  are  upset  by  the  least  breath  of  the  sceptics.  We  have 
only  to  see  their  books  if  we  are  not  convinced  on  this  point, 
and  we  shall  soon  become  assured  of  it,  perhaps  only  too  much. 

I  pause  at  the  only  strong  point  of  the  dogmatists,  namely, 
that  speaking  sincerely  and  in  good  faith  we  cannot  doubt  of 
natural  principles. 

Against  this  the  sceptics  set  in  one  word  the  uncertainty  of  our 
origin,  -which  includes  that  of  our  nature.  Which  the  dogmatists 
have  been  trying  to  answer  ever  since  the  world  began. 

So  then  war  is  opened  among  men,  in  which  each  must  take  a 
side,  ranging  himself  either  for  dogmatism  or  for  scepticism, 
since  neutrality,  which  is  the  part  of  the  wise,  is  the  oldest 
dogma  of  the  sceptical  sect.  Whoever  thinks  to  remain  neutral 
is  before  all  things  a  sceptic.  This  neutrality  is  the  essence  of 
the  sect ;  who  is  not  against  them  is  pre-eminently  for  them. 
They  are  not  for  themselves,  they  are  neutral,  indifferent,  in 
suspense  as  to  all  things,  themselves  included. 

What  then  shall  man  do  in  such  a  state  ?  Shall  he  doubt  of 
all,  doubt  whether  he  wake,  whether  you  pinch  him,  or  burn  him, 
doubt  whether  he  doubts,  doubt  whether  he  is  ?  We  cannot  go 
so  far  as  that,  and  I  therefore  state  as  a  fact  that  there  never  has 
been  a  perfect  finished  sceptic  ;  nature  upholds  the  weakness  of 
reason,  and  prevents  its  wandering  to  such  a  point. 

Shall  he  say  on  the  contrary  that  he  is  in  sure  possession  of 
truth,  when  if  we  press  him  never  so  little,  he  can  produce  no 
title,  and  is  obliged  to  quit  his  hold  ? 

What  a  chimaera  then  is  man  !  how  strange  and  monstrous  ! 
a  chaos,  a  contradiction,  a  prodigy.  Judge  of  all  things,  yet  a 
weak  earth-worm  ;  depositary  of  truth,  yet  a  cesspool  of  uncer¬ 
tainty  and  error  ;  the  glory  and  offscouring  of  the  Universe. 

Who  will  unravel  such  a  tangle  ?  This  is  certainly  beyond  the 
power  of  dogmatism  and  scepticism,  and  all  human  philosophy. 
Man  is  incomprehensible  by  man.  We  grant  to  the  sceptics 


the  philosophers. 


107 


what  they  have  so  loudly  asserted,  that  truth  is  not  within  our 
reach  nor  to  our  taste,  that  her  home  is  not  on  earth  but  in 
heaven,  that  she  dwells  within  the  breast  of  God,  and  that  we  can 
only  know  her  so  far  as  it  pleases  him  to  reveal  her.  Let  us 
then  learn  our  true  nature  from  truth  uncreate  and  incarnate. 

Nature  confounds  the  sceptics,  and  reason  the  dogmatists. 
What  then  will  become  of  you,  O  men  !  who  by  your  natural 
reason  search  out  your  true  condition?  You  can  neither  avoid 
both  these  sects  nor  live  in  either. 

Know  then,  proud  man,  how  great  a  paradox  thou  art  to 
thyself.  Bow  down  thyself,  weak  reason  ;  be  silent,  thou  foolish 
nature  ;  learn  that  man  is  altogether  incomprehensible  by  man, 
and  learn  from  your  master  your  true  condition  which  you 
ignore.  Hear  God. 

For  in  a  word,  had  man  never  been  corrupt  he  would  inno¬ 
cently  and  securely  enjoy  truth  and  happiness.  And  had  man 
never  been  other  than  corrupt  he  w’ould  have  no  idea  of  virtue  or 
blessedness.  But  wretched  as  we  are,  and  even  more  than  if  there 
were  no  greatness  in  our  condition,  we  have  an  idea  of  happiness 
and  cannot  attain  it,  we  feel  an  image  of  truth  and  possess  a  lie 
only,  alike  incapable  of  absolute  ignorance  and  of  certain  know¬ 
ledge,  so  manifest  is  it  that  we  once  were  in  a  degree  of  perfec¬ 
tion  from  which  we  have  unhappily  fallen  ! 

Yet  it  is  an  astonishing  thing  that  the  mystery  most  removed 
from  our  knowledge,  that  of  the  transmission  of  sin,  should  be  a 
thing  without  which  we  can  have  no  knowledge  of  ourselves. 
For  it  is  certain  that  nothing  more  shocks  our  reason  than  to 
say  that  the  sin  of  the  first  man  rendered  those  culpable,  who, 
being  so  distant  from  the  source,  seem  incapable  of  participation 
in  it  This  transfusion  does  not  only  seem  to  us  impossible,  but 
even  most  unjust,  for  there  is  nothing  so  repugnant  to  the  rules 
of  our  miserable  justice  as  to  damn  eternally  an  infant  incapable 
of  will,  for  a  sin  in  which  he  seems  to  have  so  scanty  a  share, 
that  it  was  committed  six  thousand  years  before  he  was  in  being. 
Certainly  nothing  shocks  us  more  rudely  than  this  doctrine,  and 
yet  without  this  mystery,  the  most  incomprehensible  of  all,  we 
are  incomprehensible  to  ourselves.  The  tangle  of  our  condition 
takes  its  plies  and  folds  in  this  abyss,  so  that  man  is  more 


10S  TIIE  PHILOSOPHERS. 

inconceivable  without  the  mystery  than  the  mystery  is  incon¬ 
ceivable  to  man. 

Whence  it  appears  that  God,  willing  to  render  the  difficulty  of 
our  being  unintelligible  to  us,  has  concealed  the  knot  so  high, 
or  rather  so  low,  that  we  cannot  reach  it ;  so  that  it  is  not  by 
the  arrogant  exertion  of  our  reason,  but  by  the  simple  submission 
of  reason,  that  we  can  truly  know  ourselves. 

These  foundations  solidly  established  on  the  inviolable  au¬ 
thority  of  Religion  make  us  understand  that  there  are  two  truths 
of  faith  equally  constant— the  one,  that  man  in  his  state  at 
creation  or  in  that  of  grace  is  elevated  above  the  whole  of  nature* 
made  like  unto  God  and  sharer  of  his  divinity — the  other,  that  in 
the -state  of  corruption  and  sin  he  has  fallen  from  his  former  state 
and  is  made  like  unto  the  brutes.  These  two  propositions  are 
equally  fixed  and  certain.  The  Scripture  declares  this  plainly 
to  us  when  it  says  in  some  places  :  Delicice  rnecc  esse  cum  filiis 
hominum.  Effundam  spirit um  ineum  super  oilmen  carmm.  Dii 
estis ,  etc.  j  and  in  other  places,  Oinnis  caro  foenum.  Homo  as- 
similatus  est  jumentis  insipientibus  ct  similis  factus  est  illis. 
Dixi  in  corde  mco  de  Jiliis  hominum  .  .  .  Eccles.  iii. 

By  which  it  clearly  appears  that  man  by  grace  is  made  like 
into  God,  and  a  sharer  in  his  divinity,  and  that  without  grace 
he  is  like  the  brute  beasts,  etc. 

Scepticism. — I  shall  here  write  my  thoughts  without  order,  yet 
not  perhaps  in  undesigned  confusion,  that  is  true  order,  which 
will  always  denote  my  object  by  its  very  disorder. 

I  should  do  too  much  honour  to  my  subject  if  I  treated  it  with 
order,  because  I  wish  to  show  that  it  is  incapable  of  it. 

Scepticism—  All  things  here  are  true  in  part,  and  false  in 
part.  Essential  truth  is  not  thus,  it  is  altogether  pure  and  true. 
This  mixture  dishonours  and  annihilates  it.  Nothing  is  purely 
true,  and  therefore  nothing  is  true,  understanding  by  that  pure 
truth.  You  will  say  it  is  true  that  homicide  is  an  evil,  yes,  for 
we  know  well  what  is  evil  and  false.  But  what  can  be  named 
as  good?  .Chastity?  I  say  no,  for  then  the  world  would  come 
to  an  end.  Marriage?  No,  a  celibate  life  is  better.  Not  to 


THE  PHILOSOPHERS. 


109 


kill?  No,  for  lawlessness  would  be  horrible,  and  the  wicked 
would  kill  all  the  good.  To  kill  then?  No,  for  that  destroys 
nature.  Goodness  and  truth  are  therefore  only  partial,  and 
mixed  with  what  is  evil  and  false. 

Were  we  to  dream  the  same  thing  every  night,  this  would 
affect  us  as  much  as  the  objects  we  see  every  day,  and  were  an 
artisan  sure  to  dream  every  night,  for  twelve  hours  at  a  stretch, 
that  he  was  a  king,  I  think  he  would  be  almost  as  happy  as  a 
king  who  should  dream  every  night  for  twelve  hours  at  a  stretch 
that  he  was  an  artisan. 

Should  we  dream  every  night  that  we  were  pursued  by 
enemies,  and  harassed  by  these  painful  phantoms,  or  that  we  were 
passing  all  our  days  in  various  occupations,  as  in  travelling,  we 
should  suffer  almost  as  much  as  if  the  dream  were  real,  and 
should  fear  to  sleep,  as  now  we  fear  to  wake  when  we  expect  in 
truth  to  enter  on  such  misfortunes.  And,  in  fact,  it  would  bring 
about  nearly  the  same  troubles  as  the  reality. 

But  since  dreams  are  all  different,  and  each  single  dream  is 
diversified,  what  we  see  in  them  affects  us  much  less  than 
what  we  see  when  awake,  because  that  is  continuous,  not  indeed 
so  continuous  and  level  as  never  to  change,  but  the  change  is 
less  abrupt,  except  occasionally,  as  when  we  travel,  and  then  we 
say,  “  I  think  I  am  dreaming,”  for  life  is  but  a  little  less  incon¬ 
stant  dream. 

Instinct ,  reason. — We  have  an  incapacity  of  proof  which  no 
dogmatism  can  overcome.  We  have  an  idea  of  truth,  which  no 
scepticism  can  overcome. 

Nothing  more  strengthens  scepticism  than  that  some  are  not 
sceptics  ;  were  all  so,  they  would  be  in  the  wrong. 

This  sect  draw  their  strength  from  their  enemies  more  than 
from  their  friends,  for  the  weakness  of  man  appears  much  more 
in  those  who  are  not,  than  in  those  who  are  conscious  of  it. 

Against  scepticism. — We  suppose  that  we  all  conceive  of 


no 


THE  PHILOSOPHERS. 


things  in  the  same  way,  but  it  is  a  gratuitous  supposition,  of 
which  .we  have  no  proof.  I  see  indeed  that  the  same  words  are 
applied  on  the  same  occasions,  and  that  every  time  two  men  see 
a  body  change  its  place,  they  both  express  their  view  of  the  same 
object  by  the  same  word,  both  saying  that  it  has  moved,  and  from 
this  sameness  of  application  we  have  a  strong  conviction  of  a 
sameness  of  idea  ;  but  this,  though  it  may  be  enough  to  justify 
us  in  wagering  the  affirmative,  is  not  finally  or  completely 
convincing,  since  we  know  that  we  often  draw  the  same  con¬ 
clusions  from  different  premisses. 

This  is  enough,  at  any  rate,  to  confuse  the  matter,  not  that 
it  wholly  extinguishes  the  natural  light  which  assures  us  of  these 
things  ;  the  academicians  would  have  wron,  but  this  obscures  it, 
and  troubles  the  dogmatists  to  the  glory  of  the  sceptical  cabal, 
which  consists  in  this  ambiguous  ambiguity,  and  in  a  certain 
doubtful  haze,  from  which  our  doubts  cannot  take  away  all  the 
light,  nor  our  natural  light  banish  all  the  darkness. 

Good  sense. — They  are  obliged  to  say,  “  You  do  not  act  in  good 
faith ;  we  are  not  asleep,”  etc.  How  I  like  to  see  this  proud  reason 
humiliated  and  suppliant.  For  this  is  not  the  language  of  a 
man  whose  right  is  disputed,  and  who  defends  it  with  the  mailed 
power  of  his  hand.  He  does  not  trifle  by  saying  that  men  are 
not  acting  in  good  faith,  but  he  punishes  this  bad  faith  with 
might. 

It  may  be  that  there  are  true  demonstrations,  but  it  is  not 
certain.  Thus  this  proves  nothing  but  that  it  is  not  certain  that 
all  is  uncertain,  to  the  glory  of  scepticism. 

Ex  scnatus  consul tis  ct  plebiscitis  scelera  exercentur. 

Nihil  torn  absurdc  did  potest  quod  non  dicatur  ab  aliquo 
philo sophomnn.  Ouibusdam  dcstinatis  sententiis  co?isecrati  qua: 
non  probant  coguntur  defendere. 

Ut  omnium  rerum  sic  litterarum  quoque  intemperantia  labor- 
amus. 

Id  maxime  quemque  decet  quod  est  cuj usque  suum  maxims. 

Hos  nciturci  modos  primum  dedit. 


THE  PHILOSOPHERS. 


Ill 


Paucis  opus  est  l it  ter  is  ad  bonam  inentem. 

Si  quando  turpe  non  sit ,  tamen  non  est  non  turpe  quum  id  a 
multitudine  laudetur. 

Mihi  sic  usus  est ,  tibi  ut  opus  est  facto ,  fac. 

The  falsity  of  those  philosophers  who  do  not  discuss  the  immor¬ 
tality  of  the  soul.  The  falsity  of  their  dilemma  in  Montaigne. 

It  is  beyond  doubt  that  the  mortality  or  immortality  of  the 
soul  must  make  an  entire  difference  in  morals  ;  yet  philosophers 
have  treated  morality  independently  of  the  question.  They 
discuss,  to  pass  the  time. 

Plato,  to  dispose  towards  Christianity. 

The  soul  is  immaterial.  Philosophers  have  subdued  their 
passions.  What  matter  could  do  that  ? 

Atheists  should  say  things  which  are  perfectly  clear,  but  it 
is  not  perfectly  clear  that  the  soul  is  material. 

Atheism  is  a  mark  of  strength  of  mind,  but  only  to  a  certain 
degree. 

Against' those  philosophers  who  believe  in  God  without  Jesus 
Christ. — They  believe  that  God  alone  is  worthy  to  be  loved  and 
admired,  and  they  have  desired  to  be  loved  and  admired  of  men, 
and  know  not  their  own  corruption.  If  they  feel  themselves  full 
of  feelings  of  love  and  adoration,  and  if  they  find  therein  their 
chief  joy,  let  them  think  themselves  good,  and  welcome  !  But  if 
they  find  themselves  averse  from  him,  if  they  have  no  inclination 
but  the  wish  to  establish  themselves  in  the  esteem  of  men,  and 
if  their  whole  perfection  consists  not  in  constraining,  but  yet  in 
causing  men  to  find  their  happiness  in  loving  them,  I  say  that  such 
a  perfection  is  horrible .  What !  they  have  known  God,  and  have 
not  desired  solely  that  men  should  love  him,  but  that  men  should 
stop  short  at  loving  them.  They  have  wished  to  be  the  object 
of  the  voluntary  joy  of  n\en. 

All  the  principles  cX  sceptics,  stoics,  atheists,  etc.  are  true  ;  but 


112 


THE  PHILOSOPHERS. 


their  conclusions  are  false,  because  the  opposite  principles  are 
also  true. 

But  perhaps  the  subject  goes  beyond  the  reach  of  reason.  We 
will  therefore  examine  what  she  has  to  say  on  questions  within 
her  powers.  If  there  be  anything  to  which  her  own  interest  must 
have  made  her  apply  herself  most  seriously,  it  is  the  search  after 
her  sovereign  good.  Let  us  see  then  in  what  these  strong  and 
clearsighted  souls  have  placed  it,  and  whether  they  agree. 

One  says  that  the  sovereign  good  consists  in  virtue,  another  in 
pleasure,  another  in  the  knowledge  of  nature,  another  in  truth  : 
Felix  qui potuit  <  'rum  cognoscere  causas,  another  in  total  igno¬ 
rance,  another  in  jdolence,  others  in  neglect  of  appearances, 
another  in  the  lack  of  wonder,  nihil  mirari  fti'ope  res  una  quce 
possit  facere  et  scrvare  beatum ,  the  true  sceptics  in  their  indiffer¬ 
ence,  doubt  and  perpetual  suspense,  and  others,  more  wise,  think 
they  can  find  a  better  way.  And  this  is  all  we  get  from  them  ! 

We  must  needs  see  if  this  fine  philosophy  have  gained  nothing 
certain  from  a  research  so  lengthy  and  so  wide,  at  least  perhaps 
the  soul  has  learned  to  know  herself.  We  will  hear  the  rulers 
of  the  world  on  this  matter.  What  have  they  thought  of  her 
substance  ? 

Have  they  been  more  happy  in  fixing  her  seat? 

What  have  they  discovered  about  her  origin,  duration  and 
departure  ? 

Search  for  the  true  good. — Ordinary  men  place  their  good  in 
fortune  and  external  goods,  or  at  least  in  amusement.  Philoso¬ 
phers  have  shown  the  vanity  of  all  this,  and  have  placed  it  where 
best  they  could. 

Philosophers  reckon  two  hundred  and  eighty-eight  sovereign 
goods. 

The  sovereign  good.  Dispute  about  the  sovereign  good. — Ut  sis 
contentus  temetipso  ct  ex  te  nasceniibus  bonis.  There  is  a 
contradiction,  for  finally  they  advise  suicide.  Ah  !  happy  life 
indeed,  from  which  we  are  to  free  ourselves  as  from  the  plague. 


THE  PHILOSOPHERS. 


“3 


It  is  well  to  be  weary  and  harassed  by  the  useless  search  after 
the  true  good,  that  we  may  stretch  our  arms  to  the  Redeemer. 

Conversation. — Great  words  :  Religion.  I  deny  it. 

Conversation. — Scepticism  aids  Religion. 

Philosophers. — We  are  full  of  matters  which  take  us  out  of 
ourselves. 

Our  instinct  suggests  that  we  must  seek  our  happiness  out¬ 
side  ourselves  ;  our  passions  hurry  us  abroad,  even  when  there 
are  no  objects  to  excite  them.  The  objects  outside  us  tempt 
and  call  us,  even  when  we  do  not  think  of  them.  And  thus  it  is 
in  vain  for  philosophers  to  say,  “  Enter  into  yourselves,  and  you 
will  find  your  good  there  ;  ”  we  believe  them  not,  and  those  who 
believe  them  are  the  most  empty  and  the  most  foolish. 

This  civil  war  between  reason  and  passion  divides  those  who 
desire  peace  into  two  sects,  the  one,  of  those  who  would  re¬ 
nounce  their  passions  and  become  gods,  the  other,  of  those  who 
would  renounce  their  reason  and  become  brute  beasts. — Des 
Barreaux. — But  neither  has  succeeded,  and  reason  still  exists,  to 
condemn  the  baseness  and  injustice  of  the  passions,  and  to 
trouble  the  repose  of  those  who  give  themselves  over  to  their 
sway,  and  the  passions  are  still  vigorous  in  those  who  desire  to 
renounce  them. 

The  Stoics. — They  conclude  that  what  has  been  done  once 
may  be  done  always,  and  that  because  the  desire  of  glory  gives 
some  degree  of  power  to  those  possessed  by  it,  others  can  easily 
do  the  same. 

These  are  the  movements  of  fever,  which  health  cannot  imitate. 

Epictetus  concludes  that  since  there  are  consistent  Christians 
all  men  can  easily  be  so. 

The  three  kinds  of  lust  have  made  three  sects,  and  philo¬ 
sophers  have  done  no  other  thing  than  follow  one  of  the  three 
lusts. 

What  the  Stoics  propose  is  so  difficult  and  so  idle. 

I 


TIIE  PHILOSOPHERS. 


114 

The  Stoics  lay  down  that  all  who  are  not  at  the  highest  degree 
of  wisdom  are  equally  frivolous  and  vicious,  as  those  who  are  in 
two  inches  under  water  .  .  . 

Philosophers  —  A  fine  thing  to  cry  to  a  man  who  does  not 
know  himself,  that  of  himself  he  should  come  to  God.  And  a 
fine  thing  also  to  say  to  a  man  w7ho  knows  himself. 


THOUGHTS  ON  MAHOMET  AND  ON 

CHINA. 


Jesus  Christ. 


The  foundatio?i  of  our  faith. — The  heathen  religion  has  no 
foundation  at  the  present  day.  We  are  told  that  it  once  had  such 
a  foundation  by  the  voice  of  the  oracles,  but  what  are  the  books 
which  certify  this  ?  Are  they  worthy  of  credence  on  account  of 
the  virtue  of  their  writers,  have  they  been  kept  with  such  care 
that  we  may  feel  certain  none  have  tampered  with  them  ? 

The  Mahomedan  religion  has  for  its  foundation  the  Koran 
and  Mahomet.  But  was  this  prophet,  who  was  to  be  the  last 
hope  of  the  world,  foretold?  What  mark  has  he  that  every 
other  man  has  not  who  chooses  to  call  himself  prophet  ?  What 
miracles  does  he  himself  tell  us  that  he  wrought  ?  What  mystery 
has  he  taught  ?  Even  according  to  his  own  tradition,  what 
was  the  morality,  what  the  happiness  he  offered  ? 

The  Jewish  religion  must  be  differently  regarded  in  the  tradi¬ 
tion  of  the  sacred  books  and  in  the  tradition  of  the  people.  Its 
morality  and  happiness  are  ridiculous  in  the  tradition  of  the 
people,  but  admirable  in  that  of  their  saints.  The  foundation  is 
admirable,  it  is  the  most  ancient  book  in  the  world,  and  the 
most  authentic,  and  whereas  Mahomet,  in  order  to  ensure  the 
lasting  existence  of  his  book  forbade  men  to  read  it,  Moses  with 
the  same  object  commanded  everyone  to  read  his.  And  it  is  the 
same  with  all  religions,  for  the  Christianity  of  the  sacred  books 
is  quite  different  to  that  of  the  casuists. 


ii6  THOUGHTS  ON  MAHOMET 

Our  religion  is  so  divine  that  another  divine  religion  is  only 
the  foundation  of  it. 

The  difference  between  Jesus  Christ  and  Mahomet. — Mahomet 
was  not  foretold  ;  Jesus  Christ  was  foretold. 

Mahomet  that  he  slew  ;  Jesus  Christ  that  he  caused  his  own 
to  be  slain. 

Mahomet  forbade  reading  ;  the  apostles  ordered  it. 

In  fact  the  two  systems  are  so  contrary  that  if  Mahomet  took 
the  way,  humanly  speaking,  to  succeed,  Jesus  Christ  took, 
humanly  speaking,  the  way  to  perish.  And  instead  of  conclud¬ 
ing  from  Mahomet’s  success  that  Jesus  Christ  might  well  have 
succeeded,  we  should  rather  say  that  since  Mahomet  succeeded, 
Jesus  Christ  ought  to  have  perished. 

The  Psalms  are  chanted  throughout  all  the  world. 

Who  renders  testimony  to  Mahomet  ?  Himself.  Jesus  Christ 
wills  that  his  testimony  to  himself  should  be  of  no  avail. 

The  quality  of  witnesses  demands  that  they  should  exist 
always  and  everywhere,  and  the  wretch  stands  alone. 

The  falsity  of  other  religions—  Mahomet  had  no  authority. 
His  reasons  ought  to  be  most  cogent,  having  nothing  but  their 
own  force. 

What  does  he  say  then  in  order  to  make  us  believe  him  ? 

Any  man  can  do  what  Mahomet  did,  for  he  wrought  no 
miracles,  he  was  confirmed  by  no  prophecies.  No  man  can  do 
what  Jesus  Christ  did. 

Against  Mahomet—  The  Koran  is  not  more  of  Mahomet  than 
the  Gospel  is  of  Saint  Matthew,  for  it  is  cited  by  many  authors 
from  age  to  age.  Even  its  very  enemies,  Celsus  and  Porphyry, 
never  disavowed  it. 

The  Koran  says  that  Saint  Matthew  was  an  honest  man. 
Therefore  Mahomet  was  a  false  prophet  for  calling  honest 


AND  ON  CHINA.  1 17 

men  wicked,  or  for  not  admitting  what  they  have  said  of  Jesus 
Christ. 

It  is  not  by  the  obscurities  in  Mahomet  which  may  be  inter¬ 
preted  in  a  mysterious  sense,  that  I  would  have  him  judged, 
but  in  what  he  speaks  clearly,  as  of  his  paradise,  and  the  rest, 
he  is  ridiculous.  And  because  what  is  clear  is  so  absurd,  it  is 
not  just  to  take  his  obscurities  for  mysteries. 

It  is  not  the  same  with  the  Scripture.  It  may  be  admitted 
that  in  it  are  obscurities  as  strange  as  those  of  Mahomet,  but 
much  is  admirably  clear,  and  prophecies  are  manifestly  fulfilled. 
The  cases  are  not  the  same.  We  must  not  confound  and  com¬ 
pare  things  which  only  resemble  each  other  in  their  obscurity, 
and  not  in  that  clearness,  which  should  induce  us  to  reverence 
the  obscurities. 

Suppose  two  persons  tell  foolish  stories,  one  whose  words 
have  a  two-fold  sense,  understood  only  by  his  own  followers,  the 
other  which  has  only  the  one  sense,  a  stranger  not  being  in  the 
secret,  who  hears  them  both  speak  in  this  manner,  would  pass 
on  them  a  like  judgment.  But  if  afterwards  in  the  rest  of  their 
conversation  one  speak  with  the  tongue  of  angels,  and  the  other 
mere  wearisome  common-places,  he  will  judge  that  the  one 
spoke  in  mysteries  and  not  the  other ;  the  one  having  sufficiently 
shown  that  he  was  incapable  of  absurdity,  and  capable  of  being 
mysterious,  the  other  that  he  is  incapable  of  mystery,  and  capable 
of  absurdity. 

The  Old  Testament  is  a  cipher. 

History  of  China. — I  believe  those  histories  only,  whose  wit¬ 
nesses  let  themselves  be  slaughtered. 

It  is  not  a  question  of  seeing  this  in  bulk.  I  say  there  is  in  it 
a  something  to  blind  and  something  to  enlighten. 

In  this  one  word  I  destroy  all  ycur  reasoning.  “But  China 
obscures,”  you  say,  and  I  answer,  “  China  obscures,  but  there  is 
light  to  be  found  ;  seek  it.” 

Thus  all  that  you  say  makes  for  one  of  these  designs,  and  not  at 
all  against  the  other.  So  this  serves,  and  does  no  harm. 


ixS  THOUGHTS  ON  MAHOMET  AND  ON  CHINA. 

We  must  then  look  at  this  in  detail,  the  papers  must  be  laid 
on  the  table. 

Against  the  history  of  China,  the  historians  of  Mexico.  The 
five  suns,  of  which  the  last  is  but  eight  hundred  years  old. 


OF  THE  JEWISH  PEOPLE. 


I  SEE  the  Christian  Religion  founded  on  an  earlier  Religion,  and 
this  is  what  I  find  of  positive  fact. 

I  do  not  here  speak  of  the  miracles  of  Moses,  of  Jesus  Christ, 
and  of  the  Apostles,  because  they  do  not  at  first  seem  convincing, 
and  because  I  only  wish  here  to  adduce  in  evidence  all  those 
foundations  of  the  Christian  Religion  which  are  beyond  a  doubt, 
and  on  which  doubt  cannot  be  cast  by  any  person  soever.  It 
is  certain  that  we  see  in  many  places  in  the  world  a  peculiar 
people,  separated  from  all  other  peoples  of  the  world,  which  is 
called  the  Jewish  people. 

I  see  then  a  mass  of  religions  in  many  countries,  and  in  all 
times,  but  they  neither  please  me  by  their  morality,  nor  convince 
me  by  theirproofs.  Thus  I  should  equally  have  refused  the  religion 
of  Mahomet  and  of  China,  of  the  ancient  Romans  and  of  the 
Egyptians,  for  the  sole  reason,  that  none  having  more  marks  of 
truth  than  another,  nor  any  thing  which  necessarily  decides  me, 
reason  cannot  incline  to  one  rather  than  the  other. 

But  while  I  consider  this  vacillating  and  strange  variety  of 
morals  and  beliefs  at  different  times,  I  find  in  one  corner  of  the 
world  a  peculiar  people,  separated  from  all  other  nations  upon 
earth,  the  oldest  of  all,  and  whose  histories  are  earlier  by  many 
ages  than  the  most  ancient  in  our  possession. 

I  find  then  this  great  and  numerous  people,  sprung  from  a  single 
man,  who  adore  one  God,  and  guide  themselves  by  a  law,  given 
them  as  they  say,  by  his  own  hand.  They  maintain  that  to  them 
alone  in  the  world  God  has  revealed  his  mysteries,  that  all  men 
are  corrupt  and  under  the  wrrath  of  God,  are  all  abandoned  to 
their  senses  and  imagination,  whence  arise  the  strange  errors 
and  continual  changes  among  them,  both  of  religions  and  of 
manners,  whereas  this  nation  remains  unshaken  in  its  conduct  : 


120 


OF  THE  JEWISH  PEOPLE. 


but  that  God  will  not  leave  other  nations  in  darkness  for  ever* 
that  there  will  come  a  Saviour  for  all,  that  they  are  in  the  world 
to  announce  his  coming,  that  they  were  expressly  formed  to  be 
the  forerunners  and  heralds  of  this  great  advent,  and  to  call  on 
all  nations  to  join  with  them  in  the  expectation  of  this  Redeemer. 

Advantages  of  the  Jewish  people. — In  this  search  the  Jewish 
people  at  first  attracts  my  attention  by  a  number  of  wonderful 
and  singular  things  which  appear  among  them. 

I  see  first  that  they  are  a  people  wholly  composed  of  brethren, 
and  whereas  all  others  are  formed  by  the  assemblage  of  an 
infinity  of  families,  this,  though  so  prodigiously  fruitful,  has 
sprung  from  one  man  only,  and  being  thus  all  one  flesh,  and 
members  one  of  another,  they  form  a  powerful  state  consisting  of 
one  family,  a  fact  without  example. 

This  family  or  nation  is  the  most  ancient  known  to  men,  a  fact 
which  seems  to  invest  it  with  a  peculiar  veneration,  especially  in 
regard  to  our  present  enquiry,  because  if  God  has  during  all  time 
revealed  himself  to  men,  these  are  they  from  whom  we  must  learn 
the  tradition. 

This  people  is  not  peculiar  only  by  their  antiquity,  but  also 
remarkable  by  their  duration,  which  has  been  unbroken  from 
their  origin  till  now.  For  while  the  nations  of  Greece  and  Italy, 
of  Lacedaemon,  Athens  and  Rome,  and  others  who  came  after, 
have  long  been  extinct,  these  still  remain,  and  in  spite  of  the 
endeavours  of  many  powerful  princes  who  have  a  hundred  times 
striven  to  destroy  them,  as  their  historians  testify,  and  as  we  can 
easily  understand  by  the  natural  order  of  things  during  so  long  a 
space  of  years,  they  have  nevertheless  been  preserved,  and 
extending  from  the  earliest  times  to  the  latest,  their  history 
comprehends  in  its  duration  all  our  histories. 

The  Law  by  which  this  people  is  governed  is  at  once  the 
most  ancient  law  in  the  world,  the  most  perfect,  and  the  only 
one  which  has  been  kept  without  interruption  in  a  state.  This 
is  what  Josephus  excellently  shows,  against  Apion,  as  does  Philo 
the  Jew  in  many  places,  where  they  point  out  that  it  is  so  ancient 
that  the  very  name  of  law  was  only  known  by  the  men  of  old 
more  than  a  thousand  years  afterwards,  so  that  Homer,  who  has 


OF  THE  JEWISH  PEOPLE . 


1 21 


treated  the  history  of  so  many  States,  has  not  once  used  the  word. 
And  it  is  easy  to  judge  of  the  perfection  of  the  Law  by  simply 
reading  it,  for  it  plainly  provides  for  all  things  with  so  great 
wisdom,  equity  and  judgment,  that  the  most  ancient  legislators, 
Greek  and  Roman,  having  had  some  glimpse  of  it,  have  borrowed 
from  it  their  principal  laws,  as  appears  by  those  called  Of  the 
Twelve  Tables,  and  by  the  other  proofs  given  by  Josephus. 

Yet  this  law  is  at  the  same  time  severe  and  rigorous  beyond 
all  others  in  respect  to  their  religious  worship,  constraining  the 
people,  in  order  to  keep  them  in  their  duty,  to  a  thousand  peculiar 
and  painful  observances,  on  pain  of  death.  Whence  it  is  a 
most  astonishing  fact,  that  it  has  been  constantly  preserved 
during  many  ages  by  a  people  so  rebellious  and  impatient,  while 
all  other  states  have  changed  their  laws  from  time  to  time, 
although  they  are  far  more  lenient. 

The  book  containing  this  law,  the  first  of  all  laws,  is  itself  the 
most  ancient  book  in  the  world,  those  of  Homer,  Hesiod  and 
others  dating  from  six  or  seven  hundred  years  later. 


Falsity  of  other  religions. — They  have  no  witnesses ;  this  people 
has  them.  God  challenges  other  religions  to  produce  such 
marks.  Is.  xliii.  9, — xliv.  8. 

This  is  fact.  While  all  philosophers  separate  into  different 
sects,  there  is  found  in  one  corner  of  the  world,  a  people, 
the  most  ancient  in  the  world,  declaring  that  all  the  world 
is  in  error,  that  God  has  revealed  to  them  the  truth,  that  they 
will  abide  always  on  the  earth.  In  fact,  all  other  sects  come  to  an 
end,  this  one  still  endures,  and  has  done  so  for  four  thousand 
years.  They  assert  that  they  hold  from  their  ancestors  that  man 
has  fallen  from  communion  with  God,  is  entirely  separated  from 
God,  but  that  he  has  promised  to  redeem  them,  that  their  doctrine 
shall  always  exist  on  the  earth  ; 

That  their  law  has  a  twofold  sense,  that  during  sixteen  hundred 
years  they  have  had  people  whom  they  believed  prophets  fore¬ 
telling  both  the  time  and  the  manner  ; 

That  four  hundred  years  after  they  were  scattered  everywhere 


122 


OF  THE  JEWISH  PEOPLE. 

in  order  that  Jesus  Christ  should  be  everywhere  announced,  Jesus 
Christ  came  in  the  manner  and  time  foretold  ; 

That  the  Jews  have  since  been  scattered  abroad  under  a  curse, 
yet  nevertheless  still  exist. 

The  creation  and  the  deluge  being  past,  and  God  not 
intending  any  more  to  destroy  the  world,  nor  to  create  it  anew, 
nor  to  give  any  such  great  proofs  of  himself,  he  began  to 
establish  a  people  on  the  earth,  formed  of  set  purpose,  which 
should  last  until  the  coming  of  that  people  whom  Messiah 
should  mould  by  his  spirit. 

The  Jews  who  were  called  to  subdue  the  nations  and  their 
kings  w&re  slaves  of  sin,  and  the  Christians  whose  calling  has 
been  to  be  servants  and  subjects,  are  free  children. 

The  devil  troubled  the  zeal  of  the  Jews  before  Jesus  Christ, 
because  he  would  have  been  their  salvation,  but  not  since. 

The  Jewish  people  mocked  of  the  Gentiles,  the  Christian 
people  persecuted. 

Republic. — The  Christian  and  even  the  Jewish  Republic  has 
only  had  God  for  master,  as  Philo  the  Jew  notices,  On 

Monarchy. 

When  they  fought,  they  did  so  for  God  alone,  their  chief  hope 
was  in  God  alone,  they  considered  their  towns  as  belonging  to 
God,  and  they  kept  them  for  God.  i  Chron.  xix.  13. 

The  sceptre  was  not  interrupted  by  the  carrying  away  into 
Babylon,  because  the  return  was  promised  and  foretold. 

A  single  phrase  of  David  or  of  Moses,  as  for  instance  that 
God  will  circumcise  the  heart,  enables  us  to  judge  of  their  spirit. 
If  all  the  rest  of  their  language  were  ambiguous,  and  left  it 
doubtful  whether  they  were  philosophers  or  Christians,  one  single 
sentence  of  this  kind  would  determine  all  the  rest,  as  one 
sentence  of  Epictetus  determines  the  character  of  the  rest  to  be 
the  contrary.  So  far  we  may  be  in  doubt,  but  not  afterwards. 

While  the  prophets  were  for  maintaining  the  law,  the  people 


OF  THE  JEWISH  PEOPLE. 


123 


was  negligent,  but  since  there  have  been  no  more  prophets,  zeal 
has  taken  their  place. 

The  zeal  of  the  Jewish  people  for  the  law,  especially  since  there 
have  been  no  more  prophets. 

Maccabees  after  they  had  no  more  prophets.  The  Masorah 
after  Jesus  Christ. 


* 


THE  AUTHENTICITY  OF  THE  SACRED 

BOOKS.  ' 


The  Premiss. — Moses  was  a  man  of  genius.  If  then  he  ruled 
himself  by  his  reason,  he  should  say  nothing  clearly  which  was 
directly  against  reason. 

So  all  the  apparent  weaknesses  are  strength.  Example  :  the 
two  genealogies  in  Saint  Matthew  and  Saint  Luke.  What  can 
be  more  clear  than  that  this  was  not  concerted  ? 


Proof  of  Moses. — Why  should  Moses  make  the  lives  of  men 
so  long,  and  their  generations  so  few  ? 

Because  it  is  not  the  length  of  years,  but  the  number  of 
generations  which  renders  matters  obscure. 

For  truth  is  impaired  only  by  the  change  of  men.  And  yet 
Moses  places  two  things,  the  most  memorable  that  can  be 
imagined,  that  is  to  say  the  creation  and  the  deluge,  so  near  tha< 
we  can  reach  from  one  to  the  other. 


Another  proof — The  longevity  of  the  patriarchs,  instead  of 
causing  the  loss  of  past  history,  was  the  rather  serviceable  for 
its  preservation.  For  if  we  are  not  always  well  instructed  in  the 
history  of  our  ancestors,  it  is  because  we  have  never  lived  much 
with  them,  and  because  they  are  often  dead  before  we  have 
ourselves  attained  the  age  of  reason.  But  when  men  lived  so 
long,  children  lived  long  with  their  parents,  and  long  conversed 
with  them.  Now,  their  conversation  could  only  be  of  the 
history  of  their  ancestors,  since  to  that  all  history  was  re¬ 
duced,  and  men  did  not  study  science  or  art,  which  now 


126 


THE  AUTHENTICITY  OF 


take  up  so  much  of  our  daily  discourse.  We  see  also  that 
at  that  time  men  took  special  care  to  preserve  their  genealogies. 

Shem,  who  saw  Lamech,  who  saw  Adam,  saw  also  Jacob,  who 
saw  those  who  saw  Moses  ;  therefore  the  deluge  and  the 
creation  are  true.  This  is  conclusive  among  certain  people  who 
clearly  understand  it. 

Josephus  conceals  the  shame  of  his  nation. 

Moses  does  not  conceal  his  own  shame  nor  .  .  . 

(Inis  mihi  det  ut  omnes  prophctenl  ? 

He  was  tired  of  the  people. 

When  the  creation  of  the  people  began  to  stand  at  a  distance, 
God  provided  a  single  contemporary  historian,  and  appointed  a 
whole  people  as  the  guardians  of  this  book,  in  order  that  the 
history  might  be  the  most  authentic  in  ail  the  world,  that  all 
men  might  learn  a  thing  so  necessary  to  know,  yet  so  impossible 
to  be  known  in  any  other  way. 

If  the  story  in  Esdras  is  credible,  then  it  must  be  believed  that 
Scripture  is  Holy  Scripture.  For  this  story  is  founded  only  on 
the  authority  of  those  who  allege  that  of  the  Seventy,  which 
shows  that  the  Scripture  is  holy. 

Therefore  if  the  tale  be  true,  we  find  our  proof  therein,  if  not 
we  have  it  elsewhere.  Thus  those  who  would  ruin  the  truth  of 
our  Religion,  founded  on  Moses,  establish  it  by  the  same 
authority  by  which  they  attack  it.  Thus  by  this  providence  it 
still  exists. 

Oft  Esdras. — The  story  that  the  books  were  burnt  with  the 

temple  shown  to  be  false  by  The  Book  of  Maccabees.  Jeremiah 

<rave  them  the  law. 

«_> 

The  story  that  he  recited  the  whole  by  heart.  Josephus  and 
Esdras  note  that  he  read  the  book.  Baronius,  Ann.  180.  Nullus 
penitus  Hebrceorum  antiquorum  reperitur  qui  tradidcrit  libros 
periisse  et  per  Es dr at ft  esse  restitutes ,  nisi  in  IV.  Esdrce. 

The  story  that  he  changed  the  letters. 


THE  SACRED  BOOKS.  127 

Philo,  in  Vita  Moysis :  Ilia  lingua  ac  charactere  quo  anti¬ 
quities  scripta  est  lex,  sic  permansit  usque  ad  I. XX. 

Josephus  says  the  Law  was  in  Hebrew  when  it  was  translated 
by  the  Seventy. 

Under  Antiochus  and  Vespasian,  when  they  wished  to  abolish 
the  books,  and  when  there  was  no  prophet,  they  could  not  do  so. 
And  under  the  Babylonians  when  there  had  been  no  persecution, 
and  when  there  were  so  many  prophets,  would  they  have  allowed 
them  to  be  burnt  ? 

Josephus  derides  the  Greeks  who  would  not  allow  .  .  . 

Tertullian. — Perinde  potuit  abolefactam  cam  violentia  cata- 
clysmi  in  spiritu  rursus  reformare ,  quemadmodum  et  Hiero- 
solymis  Babylonia  expugnatione  dele t is,  omne  instrument um 
Judaicce  literatures  per  Esdr am  constat  restauratum.  Lib.  I.  De 
Cultu  feemin .  cap.  iii. 

He  says  that  Noah  might  as  easily  have  restored  by  the  spirit 
the  book  of  Enoch,  destroyed  by  the  deluge,  as  Esdras  have 
restored  the  Scriptures  lost  during  the  Captivity. 

0eo£  tv  ry  txi  'SafiovKoSovixrop  aixuaXitxj'i q  tov  Xaov  CiacpOaptiauiv  riov 
■ypatpiov,  ivktrvtvot  ’EcrCpq  rip  itptl  tK  ri]Q  (pvXijg  Atol  rovg  twv  7rpoytyovo- 
twv  7r pofppriov  Tvavrag  avara^dorai  Xoyovg,  kci'i  cnroKaracTrioai  rip  Xa<p 
t>)v  did  Ma xjtujg  vopoBijaiav.  He  alleges  this  to  prove  that  it  is  not 
incredible  that  the  Seventy  should  have  explained  the  holy 
Scriptures  with  that  uniformity  which  we  admire  in  them.  Euseb. 
lib.  v.  Hist.  cap.  8.  And  he  took  that  from  Saint  Irenasus. 

Saint  Hilary  in  his  preface  to  the  Psalms  says  that  Esdras 
arranged  the  Psalms  in  order. 

The  origin  of  this  tradition  comes  from  the  Book  of  Esdras. 

Deus  glorificatus  est,  et  Scriptures  verce  divines  crediies  sunt, 
omnibus  eandem  et  eisdem  verbis  et  eisdem  nominibus  reeitantibus 
ab  initio  usque  ad finem,  uti  et pressentes  gentes  cognoscerent  quo- 
niam  per  inspirationem  Dei  interpretates  sunt  Scriptures ,  et 
non  esset  mirabile  Deum  hoc  in  eis  operatum,  quando  in  ea  cap- 
tivitate  populi  ques  facta  est  a  Nabuckoaonosor  cori'uptis  Scrip- 
turis  et  post  septuaginta  annos  Judcsis  descendentibus  in  regionem 
suam,  et  post  deinde  temporibus  Artaxexis  Persarum  regis  inspi- 
ravit  Hesdrcs  sacerdoti  tribus  Levi  presteritorum  prophet  drum 


128 


THE  AUTHENTICITY  OF 


omties  rememorare  scrmones  et  restituerc  ftopulo  earn  legem  qua: 
data  est  per  Moysen. 

Against  the  Story  in  Esdras,  II.  Maccab.  2.  Josephus,  Anti¬ 
quities,  II.  i.— Cyrus  took  occasion  from  the  prophecy  of  Isaiah 
to  release  the  people.  The  Jews  held  property  in  peace  under 
Cyrus  in  Babylon,  therefore  they  might  well  have  the  Law. 

Josephus,  in  the  whole  history  of  Esdras,  says  not  a  single  word 
of  this  restoration. — II.  Kings,  xvii.  37. 

Scripture  has  provided  passages  of  consolation  and  warning 
for  every  condition  of  life. 

Nature  seems  to  have  done  the  same  thing  by  her  two  infi¬ 
nities,  natural  and  moral,  for  we  shall  always  have  those  who  are 
higher  and  lower,  who  are  more  and  less  able,  who  are  noble  and 
in  low  estate,  in  order  to  abate  our  pride,  and  raise  our  lowliness. 

Order ,  against  the  objection  that  the  Scripture  has  no  order. — 
The  heart  has  its  own  order ;  the  mind  too  has  its  own, 
which  is  by  premisses  and  demonstrations,  that  of  the  heart  is 
wholly  different.  It  were  absurd  to  prove  that  we  are  worthy  of 
love  by  putting  forth  in  order  the  causes  of  love. 

Jesus  Christ  and  Saint  Paul  use  the  order  of  charity,  not  of  the 
intellect,  for  they  wish  to  warm,  not  to  teach  ;  the  same  with  Saint 
Augustine.  This  order  consists  mainly  in  digressions  on  each 
point  which  may  illustrate  the  main  end,  and  keep  it  ever  in  view. 

God  and  the  Apostles  foreseeing  that  the  seed  of  pride  would 
cause  heresies  to  spring  up,  and  not  wishing  to  give  them  occa¬ 
sion  to  arise  by  defining  them,  have  placed  in  the  Scripture  and 
the  prayers  of  the  Church  contrary  words  and  sentences  to 
produce  their  fruit  in  time. 

So  in  morals  he  gives  charity  *0  produce  fruits  contrary  to  lust. 

He  who  knows  the  will  of  his  master  will  be  beaten  with  more 
stripes,  because  of  the  power  he  has  by  his  knowledge.  Qui 
justus  est  justijicetur  adhuc ,  because  of  the  power  which  he  has 
by  justice.  From  him  who  has  received  most  will  the  greatest 
account  be  demanded,  because  the  aid  received  has  given  him 
greater  power. 


THE  SACRED  BOOKS. 


129 

There  is  an  universal  and  essential  difference  between  the 
actions  of  the  will  and  all  other  actions. 

The  will  is  one  of  the  chief  organs  of  belief,  not  that  it  forms 
belief,  but  that  things  are  true  or  false  according  to  the  side  on 
which  we  view  them.  The  will  which  chooses  one  side  rathei 
than  the  other  turns  away  the  mind  from  considering  the 
qualities  of  all  that  it  does  not  like  to  see,  thus  the  mind,  moving 
in  accord  with  the  will,  stays  to  look  at  the  side  it  chooses, 
and  so  judges  by  what  it  sees. 

All  things  work  together  for  good  to  the  elect,  even  the  obscu¬ 
rities  of  Scripture,  which  they  honour  because  of  what  is  divinely 
clear.  And  all  things  work  together  for  evil  to  the  reprobate, 
even  what  is  clear,  which  they  blaspheme  because  of  the 
obscurities  they  do  not  understand. 

How  many  stars  have  telescopes  discovered  for  us  which  did 
not  exist  tor  the  philosophers  of  old.  Men  have  roundly  taken 
holy  Scripture  to  task  in  regard  to  the  great  multitude  of  stars, 
saying  :  “We  know  that  there  are  only  a  thousand  and  twenty- 
two.’’ 


The  meaning  changes  according  to  the  words  which  express 
it.  The  meaning  receives  its  dignity  from  words  instead  of 
giving  it.  We  must  seek  examples  of  this. 

Words  differently  arranged  have  different  meanings,  and 
meanings  differently  arranged  produce  different  effects. 


K 


THE  PROPHECIES. 


The  prophecies  are  the  strongest  proofs  of  Jesus  Christ. 
F or  these  therefore  God  has  made  the  most  provision  ;  since  the 
event  which  has  fulfilled  them  is  a  miracle  existing  from  the 
birth  of  the  Church  to  the  end.  Therefore  God  raised  up  pro¬ 
phets  during  sixteen  hundred  years,  and  during  four  hundred 
years  afterwards  he  dispersed  all  these  prophecies  with  all 
the  Jews,  who  bore  them  into  all  regions  of  the  world.  Such 
was  the  preparation  for  the  birth  of  Jesus  Christ,  whose  Gospel 
exacting  belief  from  every  man  made  it  necessary  not  only  that 
there  should  be  prophecies  to  inspire  this  belief,  but  that  these 
prophecies  should  be  spread  throughout  the  whole  world,  so 
that  the  whole  world  should  embrace  it. 

Prophecies. — If  one  man  alone  had  made  a  book  of  predictions 
concerning  Jesus  Christ,  both  as  to  the  time  and  the  manner  of 
his  coming,  and  if  Jesus  Christ  had  come  in  agreement  with 
these  prophecies,  the  fact  would  have  had  infinite  force. 

But  in  this  case  there  is  much  more.  Here  is  a  succession  of 
men  for  the  space  of  four  thousand  years,  who  without  interrup¬ 
tion  or  variation,  follow  one  another  in  foretelling  the  same 
event.  Here  is  a  whole  people  announcing  it,  existing  for 
four  thousand  years,  to  testify  in  a  body  their  certainty,  from 
which  they  cannot  be  diverted  by  all  the  threatenings  and  perse¬ 
cutions  brought  to  bear  against  them  ;  this  is  in  a  far  greater 
degree  important. 

But  it  was  not  enough  that  the  prophecies  existed,  they  needed 
also  distribution  through  all  places,  and  preservation  through  all 
time.  And  in  order  that  this  agreement  might  not  be  taken  as 
an  effect  of  chance,  it  was  necessary  it  should  be  foretold. 

It  is  much  more  glorious  for  the  Messiah  that  they  should  be 


132 


THE  PROPHECIES. 


spectators  and  even  instruments  of  his  glory,  beyond  the  fact 
that  God  had  preserved  him. 

Proof. — Prophecy  with  accomplishment. 

That  which  preceded,  and  that  which  followed  Jesus  Christ. 

The  prophecies  concerning  the  Messiah  are  mingled  witn. 
some  concerning  other  matters,  so  that  neither  the  prophecies 
of  the  Messiah  should  be  without  proof,  nor  the  special  prophe¬ 
cies  without  fruit. 

Non  habemus  regem  nisi  Ccesarem.  Therefore  Jesus  Christ 
was  the  Messiah,  because  they  had  no  longer  any  king  but  a 
stranger,  and  because  they  would  have  no  other. 

The  eternal  kingdom  of  the  race  of  David,  II.  Chron.,  by  all 
the  prophecies,  and  with  an  oath.  And  it  was  not  temporally 
accomplished.  Jer.  xxxiii.  20. 

Zeph.  iii.  9. — “  I  will  give  my  words  to  the  Gentiles,  that  all 
may  serve  me  with  one  consent.” 

Ezekiel  xxxvii.  25.—“  My  servant  David  shall  be  their  prince 
for  ever.” 

Exodus  iv.  22. — “  Israel  is  my  first  born.” 

We  might  easily  think  that  when  the  prophets  foretold  that 
the  sceptre  would  not  depart  from  Judah  until  the  advent  of  the 
eternal  king,  they  spoke  to  flatter  the  people,  and  that  their 
prophecy  was  proved  false  by  Herod.  But  to  show  that  this  was 
not  their  meaning,  and  that  on  the  contrary  they  well  knew  that 
the  temporal  kingdom  should  cease,  they  said  they  would  be  with¬ 
out  a  king,  and  without  a  prince,  and  for  a  long  time.  Hosea  iii.  4. 

Prophecies—  That  Jesus  Christ  will  sit  on  the  right  hand  till 
God  has  put  his  enemies  under  his  feet. 

Therefore  he  will  not  subject  them  himself. 

The  time  of  the  first  advent  was  foretold,  the  time  of  the 


THE  PROPHECIES. 


133 


second  is  not  so,  because  the  first  was  to  be  secret,  the  second 
must  be  glorious,  and  so  manifest  that  even  his  enemies  will  re¬ 
cognise  it.  But  as  his  first  coming  was  to  be  obscure,  and  to  be 
known  only  of  those  who  searched  the  Scriptures  .  .  . 

The  prophecies  must  be  unintelligible  to  the  wicked,  Daniel 
xii.  10,  Hosea  xiv.  9,  but  intelligible  to  those  who  are  well 
instructed. 

The  prophecies  which  represent  him  poor,  represent  him 
master  of  the  nations.— Is.  lii.  16,  etc.  liii.  Zech.  ix.  9. 

The  prophecies  which  foretell  the  time  foretell  him  only  as 
master  of  the  Gentiles  and  suffering,  and  not  as  in  the  clouds 
nor  as  judge.  And  those  which  represent  him  thus  as  judge 
and  in  glory  do  not  specify  the  time. 

Do  you  think  that  the  prophecies  cited  in  the  Gospel  were 
reported  to  make  you  believe?  No,  but  to  prevent  your 
believing. 

Prophecies. — The  time  was  foretold  by  the  state  of  the  Jewish 
people,  by  the  state  of  the  heathen  world,  by  the  state  of  the 
temple,  by  the  number  of  years. 

It  is  daring  to  predict  the  same  affair  in  so  many  ways. 

*  It  was  necessary  that  the  four  idolatrous  or  pagan  monarchies, 
the  end  of  the  kingdom  of  Judah,  and  the  seventy  weeks  should 
coincide,  and  all  this  before  the  second  temple  was  destroyed. 

Prophecies—  The  seventy  weeks  of  Daniel  are  equivocal  in 
the  term  of  commencement,  because  of  the  terms  of  the  prophecy, 
and  in  the  term  of  conclusion  because  of  the  differences  in  the 
chronologists.  But  all  this  difference  extends  only  to  two 
hundred  years. 

We  understand  the  prophecies  only  when  we  see  the  events 
occur,  thus  the  proofs  of  retreat,  discretion,  silence,  etc.,  aie 
evidence  only  to  those  who  know  and  believe  them. 

Joseph  so  interior  in  a  law  so  exterior. 


134 


THE  PROPHECIES. 


Exterior  penances  dispose  to  interior,  as  humiliations  to 
humility.  So  the  .  .  . 

The  more  I  examine  them  the  more  I  find  truths  in  them, 
both  in  those  which  preceded  and  those  which  followed,  both 
the  synagogue  which  was  foretold,  and  the  wretches  who  adhere 
to  it,  and  who,  being  our  enemies,  are  admirable  witnesses  of  the 
truth  of  these  prophecies,  wherein  their  misery  and  even  their 
blindness  is  foretold. 

I  find  this  sequence,  our  Religion  wholly  divine  in  its  authority, 
in  its  duration,  in  its  perpetuity,  in  its  morality,  in  its  conduct,  its 
doctrine,  and  its  effects. 

The  frightful  darkness  of  the  Jews  foretold.  Eris  palpans  in 
meridie .  Dabitur  liber  scjenti  literas ,  et  dicet :  Non  possum 
legere. 

Hosea  i.  9.  “  Ye  shall  not  be  my  people  and  I  will  not  be  your 
God/’  when  you  are  multiplied  after  the  dispersion.  “  In  the  places 
where  it  was  said  :  Ye  are  not  my  people,  I  will  call  them  my 
people.” 

Predictions. — That  under  the  fourth  monarchy,  before  the 
destruction  of  the  second  temple,  before  the  dominion  of  the 
Jews  was  taken  away,  and  in  the  seventieth  week  of  Daniel, 
while  the  second  temple  was  still  standing,  the  Gentiles  should 
be  instructed,  and  brought  to  the  knowledge  of  the  God  wor¬ 
shipped  by  the  Jews,  that  those  who  loved  him  should  be 
delivered  from  their  enemies,  and  filled  with  his  fear  and  love. 

And  it  came  to  pass  that  under  the  fourth  monarchy,  before 
the  destruction  of  the  second  temple,  etc.,  the  Gentiles  in  crowds 
worshipped  God  and  lived  an  angelic  life.  Maidens  dedicated 
their  virginity  and  their  life  to  God,  men  gave  up  their  pleasures, 
what  Plato  was  only  able  to  effect  upon  a  few  men,  chosen  and 
instructed  to  that  end,  a  secret  force,  by  the  power  of  a  few 
words,  now  wrought  upon  a  hundred  million  ignorant  men. 

The  rich  left  their  wealth,  children  left  the  luxurious  homes  of 
their  parents  to  go  into  the  austerity  of  the  desert,  etc.,  according 
to  Philo  the  Jew.  All  this  was  foretold  long  ages  ago.  For  two 


TIIE  PROPHECIES. 


*35 


thousand  years  no  Gentile  had  worshipped  the  God  of  the  Jews, 
and  at  the  time  foretold,  the  crowd  of  Gentiles  worshipped  this 
only  God.  The  temples  were  destroyed,  the  very  kings  bowed 
themselves  under  the  cross.  All  this  was  of  the  Spirit  of  God 
spread  abroad  upon  the  earth. 

Holiness. — Effundam  spiritum  meum. — All  nations  had  been 
in  unbelief  and  lust ;  the  whole  world  was  now  ablaze  with  love. 
Princes  quitted  their  state,  maidens  suffered  martyrdom.  This 
power  sprang  from  the  advent  of  Messiah,  this  was  the  effect  and 
these  the  tokens  of  his  coming. 


Predictions.— It  was  foretold  that  in  the  time  of  Messiah  he 
would  come  and  establish  a  new  covenant,  such  as  should  make 
them  forget  the  coming  out  from  Egypt,  Jer.  xxiii.  5,  Is.  xliii. 
16,  that  he  would  put  his  law  not  in  externals,  but  in  the  heart, 
that  Jesus  Christ  would  put  his  fear,  which  had  been  only  from 
without,  in  the  midst  of  the  heart.  Who  does  not  see  the 
Christian  law  in  all  this  ? 

Prophecies. — That  the  Jews  would  reject  Jesus  Christ,  and 
would  themselves  be  rejected  of  God  because  the  choice  vine 
brought  forth  only  wild  grapes  ;  that  the  chosen  people  should 
be  disloyal,  ungrateful,  incredulous,  populum  non  credentem  et 
contradicentem j  that  God  would  strike  them  with  blindness, 
and  that  in  full  mid-day  they  would  grope  like  blind  men  ;  that 
his  messenger  should  go  before  him. 

“  .  .  .  Then  shall  a  man  no  more  teach  his  neighbour,  saying, 
There  is  the  Lord,  for  God  will  make  himself  felt  by  all ,  your 
sons  shall  prophesy.  I  will  put  my  spirit  and  my  fear  in  your 
heartP 

All  that  is  the  same  thing.  To  prophesy  is  to  speak  of  God, 
not  by  outward  proofs,  but  by  a  feeling  interior  and  direct. 

Prophecies. — Transfixerunt ,  Zech.  xii.  10. 


136 


THE  PROPHECIES . 


That  there  should  come  a  deliverer  to  crush  the  demon’s  head, 
and  to  free  his  people  from  their  sins,  ex  omnibus  iniquiiatibns. 
That  there  should  be  a  new  and  eternal  covenant,  and  a  new 
and  eternal  priesthood  after  the  order  of  Melchisedek,  that  the 
Christ  should  be  glorious,  powerful,  mighty,  and  yet  so  miserable 
that  he  would  not  be  recognised,  nor  taken  for  what  he  is,  but  be 
rejected  and  slain,  that  his  people  which  denied  him  should  be 
no  more  his  people,  that  the  idolaters  would  receive  him  and  trust 
in  him,  that  he  would  quit  Zion  to  reign  in  the  centre  of  idolatry, 
that  the  Jews  should  exist  for  ever,  that  he  would  spring  from 
Judah,  and  at  a  time  when  there  should  be  no  longer  a  king. 

That  Jesus  Christ  would  be  small  in  his  beginnings,  and  after¬ 
wards  would  increase.  The  little  stone  of  Daniel. 

That  he  would  teach  men  the  perfect  way, 

And  never  has  there  come  before  him  nor  after  him  any  man 
who  has  taught  anything  divine  approaching  this. 

That  then  idolatry  would  be  overthrown,  that  the  Messiah 
would  cast  down  all  idols,  and  would  bring  men  into  the  worship 
of  the  true  God. 

That  the  idol  temples  would  be  overthrown,  and  that  among  all 
nations  and  in  all  places  of  the  world  men  would  offer  to  God  a 
pure  sacrifice,  not  of  beasts. 

That  he  would  be  king  of  the  Jews  and  Gentiles.  And  we  see 
this  king  of  Jews  and  Gentiles  oppressed  by  both,  both  equally 
conspiring  his  death,  we  see  him  bear  rule  over  both,  destroying 
the  worship  established  by  Moses  in  Jerusalem  its  centre,  where 
he  placed  his  earliest  Church,  as  well  as  the  worship  of  idols  in 
Rome  its  centre,  where  he  placed  his  chief  Church. 

No  Gentile  from  Moses  to  Jesus  Christ  according  to  the 
Rabbis  themselves.  The  crowd  of  the  Gentiles  after  Jesus  Christ 
believed  in  the  books  of  Moses  and  observed  their  essence  and 
spirit,  casting  away  only  what  was  useless. 

% 

Omnis  Judd  a  rcgio,  et  Jerosolomitcc  universi  et  baptisa- 


7 HE  PROPHECIES. 


»37 


bantur . — Because  of  all  the  conditions  of  men  who  came 
there. 

These  stones  can  become  the  children  of  Abraham. 


Is.  i.  21.  Change  of  good  into  evil  and  the  vengeance  of  God. 

Is.  x.  1.  Vcs  qui  condunt  leges  iniquas. 

Is.  xxvi.  20.  Vade  populus  incus,  intra  in  cubicula  tua , 
claude  ostia  tua  super  te,  absconderc  modicum  ad  momentum , 
donee  pertranseat  indignatio. 

Is.  xxviii.  1.  Vce  coronce  superbice. 

Miracles. — Is.  xxxiii.  9.  Luxit,  et  elanguit  terra:  confusus 
est  Libanus,  et  obsorduit ,  etc. 

Nunc  consurgam ,  dicit  Dominus :  nunc  exalt abor,  nunc  sub - 
levabor. 

Is.  xl.  17.  0  nines  gentes  quasi  non  sint. 

Is.  xli.  26.  Quis  annunciavit  ab  exordio  ut  sciamus :  et  a  priii- 
cipio  ut  dicamus :  Justus  es  ? 

Is.  xliii.  13.  Opcrabor,  et  quis  avertet  illud ? 

Jer.  xi.  21.  Non prophetabisin  nomine  Domini ,  et  non  morieris 
in  manibus  nostris. 

Propterea  hocc  dicit  Dominus. 

J er.  xv.  2.  Quod  si  dixerint  ad  te  :  Quo  egrediemur  ?  dices  ad 
eos  :  Hcec  dicit  Dominus :  Qui  ad  mortem,  ad  mortem  :  et  qui  ad 
gladium,  ad  gladium  :  et.  qui  ad  famem ,  ad  famem  :  et  qui  ad 
captivitatem,  ad  captivitatem. 

Jer.  xvii.  9.  Pravum  est  cor  omnium ,  et  inscrutabile :  quis 
cognoscet  illud?  that  is  to  say,  who  can  know  all  its  evil,  for  it 
is  already  known  to  be  wicked.  Ego  Dominus  scrutans  cor ,  et 
probans  renes. 

Et  dixerunt :  Venite  et  cogitemus  contra  Jeremiam  cogitationes , 
non  enim  peribit  lex  a  sacerdote,  neque  sermo  a  prophet  a. 

Jer.  xvii.  17.  Non  sis  tu  mihi  formidini,  spes  mea  tu  in  die 
afflictionis. 


Trust  in  exterior  sacrifices. 

jer.  vii.  14.  Eaciam  domui  hide ,  in  qua  invocation:  est  nomen 


I3§ 


THE  PROPHECIES. 


mcum ,  et  in  qua  vos  habetis  fiduciam :  et  loco ,  quern  dedi  vobis  et 
patribus  vestris,  sicut  feci  Silo. 

Exterior  sacrifice  is  not  the  essential  point. 

Tu  ergo  noli  or  are  pro  fopido  hoc. 

Jer.  vii.  22.  Quia  non  sum  locutus  cum  patribus  vestris ,  ct  non 
prcecepi  eis  in  die ,  qua  eduxi  eos  de  Terra  sEgypti,  de  verbo  holo- 
cautomatum ,  et  victimarum. 

Sed  hoc  verbum  prcecepi  eis,  dicens :  A  udite  vocem  meant ,  et  ero 
vobis  Deus ,  et  vos  eritis  mihi  populus :  et  ambulate  in  omni  via , 
quam  mandavi  vobis ,  ut  bene  sit  vobis.  Et  non  audierunt. 

Exterior  sacrifice  is  not  the  essential  point. 

Jer.  xi.  13.  Secundum  numerum  enim  civitatum  tuarum  erant 
dii  tuijuda:  ct  secundum  numerum  viarum  Jerusalem  posuisti 
aras  confusionis.  Tu  ergo  noli  or  are  pro  populo  hoc. 

A  multitude  of  doctrines. 

Is.  xliv.  20.  Neque  dicet :  Forte  mendacium  est  in  dexteramea. 

Is.  xliv.  21,  etc.  Memento  horum  Jacob ,  et  Israel,  quoniam 
servus  mens  es  tu.  Formavi  te,  servus  mens  es  tu  Israel,  ne 
obliviscaris  mei. 

Delevi  ut  nubem  iniquitates  tuas,  et  quasi  nebulam  peccata 
tua :  revertere  ad  me,  quoniam  redemi  te. 

xliv.  23,  24.  Laudate  cceli ,  quoniam  misericordiam  fecit  Domi- 
nus  : ...  ,  quoniam  redemit  Dominus  Jacob,  et  Israel  gloriabitur. 
Hcec  dicit  Dominus  redemptor  tuus ,  et  formator  tuus  ex  utero : 
Ego  sum  Dominus,  facials  omnia ,  extendens  ccelos  solus,  stabi- 
liens  terrain,  et  nullus  mecum. 

Is.  liv.  8.  In  momento  indignationis  abscondi  faciem  meam 
parumper  a  te,  et  in  misericordia  sempiterna  misertus  sum  tui : 
dixit  redemptor  tuus  Dominus. 

Is.  lxiii.  12.  Qui  eduxit  ad  dexteram  Moysen  brachio  majes- 
tatis  suce,  qui  scidit  aquas  ante  eos,  ut  faceret  sibi  nomen  sempi- 
ternum. 

14.  Sic  adduxisti  populum  tuum  ut  facer  es  tibi  nomen  glories. 

Is.  lxiii.  16.  Tu  enim  pater  noster,  et  Abraham  nescivit  nos,  et 
Israel  iguoravit  nos. 

Is.  lxiii.  17.  Quare  .  .  .  indurasti  cor  nostrum  ne  timeremus  te? 

Is.  lxvi.  17.  Qui  sanctificabantur,  et  mundos  se  putabant  .  .  . 
simul  consumentur,  dicit  Dominus. 


THE  PROPHECIES. 


139 


Jer.  ii.  35.  Et  dixisti:  Absque  peccato  et  innocens  ego  sum:  et 
propterea  avertatur  furor  tuns  a  me. 

Ecce  ego  judicio  contendam  tecum  go  quod  dixeris :  Non  peccavi. 

Jer.  iv.  22.  Sapientes  sunt  lit  faciant  mala,  bene  autem  facere 
nescierunt. 

Jer.  iv.  23,  24.  Aspexi  terrain,  et  ecce  vacua  erat,  et  nihili  :  et 
ccelos,  et  non  erat  lux  in  eis. 

Vidi  monies ,  ctecce  movebantur:  et  omnes  colics  conturbati  sunt. 

Intuitus  sum,  et  non  erat  homo :  et  omne  volatile  coeli  recessit. 
Aspexi,  et  ecce  Carmelus  desertus:  et  omnes  urbes  ejus  destructce 
sunt  a  facie  Domini,  et  a  facie  irce  furoris  ejus. 

Hcec  enim  dicit  Dominus  :  Deserta  erit  omnis  terra,  sed  tamen 
consummationem  non  faciam. 

Jer.  v.  4.  Ego  autem  dixi :  Forsitan  pauper es  sunt  et  stulti, 
ignorantes  viam  Domini,  judicium  Dei  sui. 

Ibo  ad  optimates,  et  loquar  eis  :  ipsi  enim  cognoverunt  viam 
Domini:  et  ecce  magis  hi  simul  confregerunt  jugum,  ruperunt 
vincula.  Idcirco  percussit  eos  leo  de  silva,  pardus  vigilans  super 
civitates  eorum. 

Jer.  v.  29.  Numquid  super  his  non  visitabo,  dicit  Dominus? 
aut  super  gentem  hujuscemodi  non  ulciscetur  anima  mea  ? 

J  er.  v.  30.  Stupor  et  mirabilia  facta  sunt  in  terra : 

Jer.  v.  31.  Prophetcz  prophet ab ant  mendacium ,  et  sacerdotes 
applaudebant  manibus  suis :  et  populus  mens  dilexit  talia:  quid 
igitur fiet  in  novissimo  ejus  ? 

Jer.  vi.  16.  Hcec  dicit  Dominus :  State  super  vias,  et  videte,et 
interrogate  de  semitis  antiquis,  quce  sit  via  bona,  et  ambulate  in 
ea :  et  invenietis  refrigerium  animabus  vestris.  Et  dixerunt : 
Non  ambulabimus. 

Et  constituti  super  vos  speculatores.  A.udite  vocem  tubce.  Et 
dixerunt :  Non  audiemus. 

Ideo  audit e  Gentes,  quanta  ego  faciam  eis.  Audi  terra  :  Ecce 
ego  adducam  mala,  etc. 

Jer.  xxiii.  15.  A  prophetis enim  Hierusalem  egressa  est pollutio 
super  omnem  terram. 

Jer.  xxiii.  17.  Dicunt  his,qui  blasphemant  me:  Locutus  est 
Dominus,  Pax  erit  vobis,  et  omni  qui  ambulat  in  pravitate 
cordis  sui,  dixerunt :  Non  veniet  super  vos  malum. 


140 


THE  PROPHECIES. 


The  Jews  witnesses  for  God.  Is.  xliii.  9,  xliv.  8. 

Prophecies  accomplished. — Malachi  i.  11.  The  sacrifice  of 
the  Jews  rejected,  and  the  sacrifice  of  the  Gentiles,  even  out  of 
Jerusalem,  and  in  all  places. 

—  Moses  before  his  death  foretold  the  calling  of  the  Gentiles, 
Deut.  xxxii.  21,  and  the  reprobation  of  the  Jews. 

Moses  foretold  what  would  happen  to  each  tribe. 

Prophecy. — Amos  and  Zechariah.  They  sold  the  just  one,  and 
therefore  were  not  recalled. 

—  Jesus  Christ  betrayed. 

They  shall  no  more  remember  Egypt.  See  Is.  xliii.  16-19, 
Jerem.  xxiii.  7. 

The  Jews  shall  be  scattered  abroad.  Is.  xxvii.  6.  A  new  law. 
Jer.  xxxi.  31. 

Malachi.  Grotius. — The  second  temple  glorious.  Jesus  Christ 
will  come  to  it.  Haggai  ii.  7-10  .  .  .  The  calling  of  the  Gentiles. 
Joel  ii.  28.  Hos.  ii.  24.  Deut.  xxxii.  21.  Mai.  i.  11. 

‘  Moses  first  taught  the  Trinity,  original  sin,  the  Messiah. 

David  was  a  great  witness. 

A  king,  good,  merciful,  a  fair  soul,  a  fine  mind,  powerful.  He 
prophesied,  and  his  wonders  came  to  pass.  This  is  infinite. 

He  had  only  to  say  that  he  was  the  Messiah,  had  he  been 
vain  enough,  for  the  prophecies  are  clearer  about  him  than 
about  Jesus  Christ.  The  same  with  Saint  John. 

Special  predictions—  They  were  strangers  in  Egypt  without 
any  private  possessions,  in  that  country  or  in  any  other,  when 
Jacob  dying  and  blessing  his  twelve  children  declared  to  them 
that  they  should  possess  a  great  land,  and  foretold  in  particular 
to  the  family  of  Judah  that  the  kings  who  would  one  day 
govern  them  should  be  of  his  race,  and  that  all  his  brethren 
should  be  subject  to  him. 

This  same  Jacob  disposing  of  the  future  land  as  though  he 
were  its  master,  gave  a  portion  to  Joseph  more  than  to  the 
others.  “  I  give  thee,”  said  he,  “  a  portion  more  than  to  thy 
brethren.”  And  blessing  his  two  children,  Ephraim  and  Ma- 


THE  PROPHECIES . 


141 


nasseh,  whom  Joseph  had  presented  to  him,  the  elder,  Manasseh, 
on  his  right,  and  the  young  Ephraim  on  his  left,  he  put  his 
arms  cross-wise,  and  placing  his  right  hand  on  the  head  of 
Ephraim,  and  the  left  on  Manasseh,  he  blessed  them  thus.  And 
when  Joseph  represented  to  him  that  he  was  preferring  the 
younger  he  answered  him  with  admirable  decision,  “  I  know 
it  well,  my  son,  I  know  it,  but  Ephraim  shall  increase  in  a 
way  quite  other  than  Manasseh.”  This  has  been  in  fact  so  true 
in  the  result  that,  being  alone  almost  as  abundant  as  the  two 
entire  lines  which  compose  a  whole  kingdom,  they  have  been 
usually  called  by  the  name  of  Ephraim  alone. 

This  same  Joseph  when  dying  commanded  his  children  to 
bear  his  bones  with  them  into  that  land  to  which  they  did  not 
come  for  two  hundred  years  afterwards. 

Moses,  who  wrote  all  these  things  so  long  before  they  hap¬ 
pened,  himself  made  for  each  family  the  partition  of  the  land 
before  they  entered  it,  as  though  he  had  been  master  of  it. 

He  gave  them  judges  to  divide  it,  he  prescribed  the  entire 
political  form  of  government  which  they  should  observe,  the 
cities  of  refuge  which  they  should  build,  and  .  .  . 

Daniel  ii.  “All  thy  sooth-sayers  and  wise  men  cannot  show 
unto  thee  the  secret  which  thou  hast  demanded. 

“  But  there  is  a  God  in  heaven,  who  can  do  so,  and  he  has 
revealed  in  thy  dream  the  things  which  shall  be  in  the  latter 
days.”  This  dream  must  have  caused  him  great  uneasiness. 

“And  it  is  not  by  my  own  Avisdom  that  I  have  knowledge 
of  this  secret,  but  by  the  revelation  of  this  same  God  who  has 
discovered  it  to  me,  to  make  it  manifest  in  thy  presence. 

“Thy  dream  was  of  this  kind.  Thou  sawest  a  great  image, 
high  and  terrible,  which  stood  before  thee.  His  head  was  of 
gold,  his  breast  and  his  arms  of  silver,  his  belly  and  his  thighs 
of  brass.  His  legs  of  iron,  his  feet  part  of  iron  and  part  of  clay. 

“  Thus  thou  sawest  till  a  stone  was  cut  out  without  hands, 
which  smote  the  image  upon  his  feet,  that  were  of  iron  and  clay 
and  brake  them  to  pieces. 

“  Then  was  the  iron,  the  clay,  the  brass,  the  silver,  and  the  gold, 
broken  to  pieces  together,  and  the  wind  carried  them  away,  but 


142 


THE  PROPHECIES. 


this  stone  which  smote  the  image  became  a  great  mountain,  and 
filled  the  whole  earth.  This  is  the  dream,  and  now  I  will  give 
thee  the  interpretation. 

“  Thou  who  art  the  greatest  of  kings,  and  to  whom  God  has 
given  a  power  so  extended  that  thou  art  renowned  among  all 
people,  art  the  golden  head  of  the  image  which  thou  hast  seen. 

“But  after  thee  shall  arise  another  kingdom  inferior  to  thee, 
and  another  of  brass,  which  shall  bear  rule  over  all  the  earth. 

“  But  the  fourth  kingdom  shall  be  strong  as  iron,  and  even  as 
iron  breaketh  in  pieces,  and  subdueth  all  things,  so  this  empire 
shall  break  in  pieces  and  bruise. 

“  And  whereas  thou  sawest  the  feet  and  toes,  part  of  clay  and 
part  of  iron,  the  kingdom  shall  be  divided  ;  and  it  shall  be  partly 
strong  and  partly  broken. , 

“  But  as  iron  cannot  be  firmly  mixed  with  clay,  so  they  who  are 
represented  by  the  iron  and  by  the  clay,  cannot  cleave  one  to 
another  though  united  by  marriage. 

“  Now  in  the  days  of  these  kings  will  God  raise  up  a  Kingdom, 
which  shall  never  be  destroyed,  nor  ever  be  delivered  up  to 
another  people. 

“  It  shall  break  in  pieces  and  consume  all  these  kingdoms,  and 
it  shall  stand  for  ever,  according  as  thou  sawrest  that  the  stone 
was  cut  out  of  the  mountain  without  hands,  and  that  it  fell  from 
the  mountain,  and  brake  in  pieces  the  iron,  the  clay,  the  silver 
and  the  gold.  This  is  what  God  has  revealed  to  thee  of  the  things 
which  must  come  in  the  fulness  of  time.  This  dream  is  true 
and  the  interpretation  thereof  is  faithful.  Then  Nebuchadnezzar 
fell  upon  his  face  towards  the  earth,  etc.” 


Daniel  viii.  “  Daniel  having  seen  the  combat  of  the  ram  and 
of  the  he-goat,  who  vanquished  him  and  ruled  over  the  earth, 
whereof  the  principal  horn  being  broken  four  others  came  up 
towards  the  four  winds  of  heaven,  and  out  of  one  of  them  came 
forth  a  little  horn,  which  waxed  exceeding  great  toward  the  South 
and  toward  the  East,  and  toward  the  land  of  Israel,  and  it  waxed 
great,  even  to  the  host  of  heaven,  and  it  cast  down  some  of  the 
stars,  and  stamped  upon  them,  and  at  last  overthrew  the  prince, 


THE  PROPHECIES.  143 

and  by  him  the  daily  sacrifice  was  taken  away  and  the  place  of 
his  sanctuary  was  cast  down. 

“This  is  what  Daniel  saw.  He  asked  the  explanation  and  a 
voice  cried  in  this  manner,  4  Gabriel,  make  this  man  to  under¬ 
stand  the  vision.’  And  Gabriel  said, 

44  The  ram  which  thou  sawest  is  the  king  of  the  Medes  and 
Persians,  and  the  he-goat  is.the  king  of  Greece,  and  the  great  horn 
that  is  between  his  eyes  is  the  first  king  of  this  monarchy. 

44  Now  that  being  broken,  whereas  four  stood  up  for  it,  four 
kingdoms  shall  stand  up  out  of  the  nation,  but  not  with  his 
strength. 

44  Now  in  the  latter  time  of  their  kingdom  when  iniquities 
shall  be  grown  up,  there  shall  arise  a  king  insolent  and  strong, 
but  his  power  shall  be  not  his  own.  To  him  all  things  shall 
succeed  after  his  will,  and  he  shall  destroy  the  holy  people,  and 
through  his  policy  also  he  shall  cause  craft  to  prosper  in  his 
hand,  and  he  shall  destroy  many.  He  shall  also  stand  up  against 
the  Prince  of  Princes,  but  he  shall  perish  miserably,  and  neverthe¬ 
less  by  a  violent  hand.” 

Daniel  ix.  20. 

44  As  I  was  praying  God  with  all  my  heart,  and  confessing 
my  sin  and  the  sin  of  all  my  people,  and  prostrating  myself 
before  God,  even  Gabriel,  whom  I  had  seen  in  the  vision  at 
the  beginning,  came  to  me  and  touched  me  about  the  time  ot 
the  evening  oblation,  and  he  informed  me  and  said,  O  Daniel,  I 
am  now  come  forth  to  teach  thee  that  thou  mightest  understand. 
Atthe  beginning  of  thy  prayer  I  came  to  show  thee  that  which  thou 
didst  desire,  for  thou  art  greatly  beloved  :  therefore  understand 
the  matter  and  consider  the  vision.  Seventy  weeks  are  deter¬ 
mined  upon  thy  people,  and  upon  thy  holy  city,  to  finish  the 
transgression,  and  to  make  an  end  of  sins,  and  to  abolish  iniquity 
and  to  bring  in  everlasting  righteousness ;  to  accomplish  the 
vision  and  the  prophecies,  and  to  anoint  the  Most  Holy. 

44  After  which  this  people  shall  be  no  more  thy  people,  nor  this 
city  the  holy  city.  The  times  of  wrath  are  passed  and  the  years 
of  grace  shall  come  for  ever. 

44  Know  therefore,  and  understand,  that  from  the  going  forth 
of  the  commandment  to  restore  and  to  build  Jerusalem  unto  the 


THE  PROPHECIES . 


144 

Messiah  the  Prince,  shall  be  seven  weeks,  and  three  score  and 
two  weeks  :  the  street  shall  be  built  again,  and  the  wall,  even  in 

troublous  times  ” 

The  Hebrews  were  accustomed  to  divide  numbers,  and  to 
place  the  smaller  first,  so  that  seven  and  sixty-two  make  sixty- 
nine.  Of  this  seventy  there  will  then  rest  the  seventieth  :  that  is 
to  say  the  seven  last  years  of  which  he  will  speak  next,  and  after 
these  sixty-two  weeks  which  have  followed  the  seven  first,  the 
Christ  should  be  killed,  and  a  people  would  come  with  its 
prince,  who  should  destroy  the  city,  and  the  sanctuary,  and  over¬ 
whelm  all,  and  the  end  of  that  war  will  accomplish  the  desola¬ 
tion.  Christ  shall  be  killed  after  the  sixty-nine  weeks,  that  is  to 
say,  in  the  last  week. 

u  Now  one  week,  whichjs  the  seventieth,  which  remains,  shall 
confirm  the  covenant  with  many,  and  in  the  midst  of  the  week, 
that  is  to  say  the  last  three  years  and  a  half,  he  shall  cause  the 
sacrifice  and  the  oblation  to  cease,  and  for  the  overspreading  of 
abominations  he  shall  make  it  desolate,  even  until  the  con¬ 
summation,  and  that  determined  shall  be  poured  upon  the 
desolate.” 

Daniel  xi.  The  angel  said  to  Daniel  : 

“  There  shall  stand  up  yet,”— after  Cyrus,  under  whom  all  this 
still  is,— “  three  kings  in  Persia,”—  Cambyses,  Smyrdis,  Darius  ; 

_ “and  the  fourth,” — Nerxes,  who  shall  then  come,  shall  be  far 

richer  than  they  all,  and  far  stronger,  and  shall  stir  up  all  his 
people  against  the  Greeks,  and  a  mighty  king  shall  stand  up,”— 
Alexander,— “  that  shall  rule  with  great  dominion,  and  do  accord¬ 
ing  to  his  will.  And  when  he  shall  stand  up,  his  kingdom  shall 
be  broken,  and  shall  be  divided  in  four  parts  toward  the  four 
winds  of  heaven,” — see  also  vii.  6  viii.  8  but  not  to  his  posterity , 
and  his  successors  shall  not  equal  his  power,  for  his  kingdom 
shall  be  plucked  up,  even  for  others  beside  these,” — his  four 
principal  successors. 

“And  the  king— Ptolemy  son  of  Lagos,— of  the  south,”— 
Egypt  shall  be  strong,— but  one  of  his  princes  shall  be  strong 
above  him,”— Seleucus  king  of  Syria,— “  and  his  dominion  shall  be 
a  great  dominion,”— Appian  says  that  he  was  the  most  powerful 
of  Alexander’s  successors. 


THE  PROPHECIES. 


H5 


“  And  in  the  end  of  years  they  shall  join  themselves  together, 
and  the  king’s  daughter  of  the  South,” — Berenice,  daughter 
of  Ptolemy  Philadelphus,  son  of  the  other  Ptolemy — 44  shall  come 
to  the  king  of  the  North  to  make  peace  between  these  princes  ” — 
to  Antiochus  Deus,  king  of  Syria  and  of  Asia,  son  of  Seleucus 
Lagidas. 

“  But  neither  she  nor  her  seed  shall  have  a  long  authority, 
for  she  and  they  that  sent  her  and  they  that  brought  her,  and 
her  children  and  her  friends,  shall  be  delivered  to  death.”— 
Berenice  and  her  son  were  killed  by  Seleucus  Callinicus. 

“  But  out  of  a  branch  of  her  roots  ” — Ptolemy  Euergetes  was 
the  son  of  the  same  father  as  Berenice—4  shall  one  stand  up  in 
his  estate,  who  shall  come  with  an  army  into  the  land  of  the  king 
of  the  north,  and  shall  put  all  under  subjection,  and  carry 
captives  into  Egypt  their  gods,  their  princes,  their  gold,  their 
silver,  and  all  their  precious  spoils,  and  shall  continue  many 
years  when  the  king  of  the  North  can  do  nought  against  him.” — 
— If  he  had  not  been  called  into  Egypt  by  domestic  reasons, 
says  Justin,  he  would  have  entirely  ruined  Seleucus. 

44  And  thus  he  shall  return  into  his  kingdom,  but  his  sons  shall 
be  stirred  up  and  shall  prepare  an  exceeding  great  multitude  ” — 
Seleucus  Ceraunus,  Antiochus  the  Great. 

_  44  And  their  army  shall  come  and  overthrow  all,  whereat  the 
king  of  the  South  being  moved  with  choler,  shall  come  forth 
and  fight  with  him  and  conquer,” — Ptolemy  Philopator  against 
Antiochus  the  Great  at  Raphia— 44  and  his  troops  shall  become 
insolent,  and  his  heart  shall  be  lifted  up,”— this  Ptolemy  dese¬ 
crated  the  temple — Josephus — 44  and  he  shall  cast  down  many  ten 
thousands,  but  he  shall  not  be  strengthened  by  it. 

44  For  the  king  of  the  North” — Antiochus  the  Great — 44  shall 
return  with  a  greater  multitude  than  before,” — in  the  reign  of 
the  young  Ptolemy  Epiphanes— 44  and  then  a  great  number  of 
enemies  shall  stand  up  against  the  king  of  the  south,  also  the 
apostates  and  robbers  of  thy  people  shall  exalt  themselves  to 
establish  the  vision  ;  but  they  shall  perish” — those  who  abandon 
their  religion  to  please  Euergetes,  when  he  will  send  his  troops 
to  Scopas.  For  Antiochus  will  again  take  Scopas  and  conquer 
them. 

L 


146 


THE  PROPHECIES. 


“  And  the  king  of  the  North  shall  destroy  the  fenced  cities  and 
the  armies  of  the  south  shall  not  withstand,  and  all  shall  yield  to 
his  will.  He  shall  stand  in  the  land  of  Israel  and  it  shall  yield 
to  him. 

“  And  thus  he  will  think  to  render  himself  master  of  all  the  em¬ 
pire  of  Egypt,” — despising  the  youth  of  Epiphanes,  says  Justin. 

“  And  for  that  he  will  make  alliance  with  him  and  give  his 
daughter,” — Cleopatra,  in  order  that  she  may  betray  her  husband. 
On  which  Appian  says  that  doubtful  of  being  able  to  make  him¬ 
self  master  of  Egypt  by  force,  because  of  the  protection  of  the 
Romans,  he  wished  to  attempt  it  by  craft.  “  He  would  fain  cor¬ 
rupt  her,  but  she  shall  not  stand  on  his  side,  neither  be  for  him. 
After  this  shall  he  turn  his  face  unto  the  isles,”— that  is  to  say, 
the  sea-ports, — “  and  shall  take  many,”— as  Appian  relates. 

“  But  a  prince  shall  oppose  his  conquests  and  cause  the  re¬ 
proach  offered  by  him  to  cease,”— Scipio  Africanus,  who  stopped 
the  progress  of  Antiochus  the  Great  because  he  offended  the 
Romans  in  the  person  of  their  allies. — “  He  will  return  into  his 
kingdom  and  perish  and  be  no  more.” — He  was  killed  by  his 
soldiers. 

“  And  he  who  stands  in  his  place  shall  be  a  tyrant,  a  raiser  of 
taxes  in  the  glory  of  the  kingdom,”  that  is  the  people,  Seleucus 
Philopator  or  Soter,  the  son  of  Antiochus  the  Great — “  but  within 
a  few  days  he  shall  be  destroyed,  neither  in  anger  nor  in  battle ; 

“And  in  his  place  shall  stand  up  a  vile  person,  unworthy  of  the 
honour  of  the  kingdom,  but  he  shall  come  in  by  skilful  flatteries. 

“  All  armies  shall  bend  before  him,  he  will  conquer  them, 
and  even  the  prince  with  whom  he  has  made  a  league.  For 
having  renewed  the  league  with  him,  he  will  deceive  him,  and 
come  in  with  a  few  tribes  into  his  province,  calm  and  without 
fear.  He  will  take  the  best  places,  and  shall  do  that  which  his 
fathers  have  not  done,  and  ravage  on  all  sides.  He  will  forecast 
devices,  during  his  time.” 

The  zeal  of  the  Jews  for  their  law  and  their  temple.  Josephus 
and  Philo  the  Jew  ad  Cainm. 

What  other  people  has  so  great  a  zeal,  but  for  them  it  was  a 
necessity. 


THE  PROPHECIES. 


147 


Jesus  Christ  foretold  as  to  the  time  and  the  state  of  the  world. 
The  leader  taken  from  the  thigh,  and  the  fourth  monarchy. 

How  fortunate  we  are  to  have  such  light  amid  such  darkness. 
How  grand  it  is  to  see  by  the  eye  of  faith,  Darius  and  Cyrus, 
Alexander,  the  Romans,  Pompey  and  Herod  working,  though 
unconsciously,  for  the  glory  of  the  Gospel ! 


How  grand  to  see  by  the  eye  of  faith  the  histories  of  Herod, 
of  Caesar  .  .  . 


The  reprobation  of  the  Jews  and  conversion  of  the  Gentiles.— 
Isaiah  lxv.  “  I  am  sought  of  them  that  asked  not  for  me  ;  I  am 
found  of  them  that  sought  me  not :  I  said,  Behold  me,  behold 
me,  unto  a  nation  that  did  not  call  upon  my  name. 

“  I  have  spread  out  my  hands  all  the  day  unto  an  unbelieving 
people,  which  walketh  in  a  way  that  was  not  good,  after  their 
own  thoughts  ;  a  people  that  provoketh  me  to  anger  continually 
to  my  face ;  that  sacriliceth  to  idols,  etc. 

“  These  shall  be  scattered  like  smoke  in  the  day  of  my 
wrath,  etc. 

“  Your  iniquities,  and  the  iniquities  of  your  fathers  will  I 
gather,  and  will  requite  you  according  to  your  works. 

“  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  As  the  new  wine  is  found  in  the  cluster, 
and  one  saith,  Destroy  it  not;  for  a  blessing  is  in  it. 

“So  will  I  take  a  seed  of  Jacob  and  Judah  to  possess  my 
mountains,  and  mine  elect  and  my  servants  shall  inherit  it,  and 
my  fertile  and  abundant  plains,  but  I  will  destroy  all  others, 
because  you  have  forgotten  your  God  to  follow  strange  gods.  I 
have  called  you  and  you  have  not  answered,  I  have  spoken  and 
you  have  not  heard,  and  you  have  chosen  the  things  which  I 
forbade. 

“  Therefore  thus  saith  the  Lord,  Behold,  my  servants  shall  eat, 
but  ye  shall  be  hungry  ;  my  servants  shall  rejoice,  but  ye  shall 
be  ashamed  ;  my  servants  shall  sing  for  joy  of  heart,  but  ye  shall 
cry  and  howl  for  vexation  of  spirit. 

“  And  ye  shall  leave  your  name  for  a  curse  unto  my  chosen  : 
for  the  Lord  shall  slay  thee,  and  call  his  servants  by  another 


g  THE  PROPHECIES. 

name,  that  he  who  blesseth  himself  in  the  earth  shall  bless  him¬ 
self  in  God,  etc.  ;  because  the  former  troubles  are  forg°tte"' 

“  For  behold,  I  create  new  heavens  and  a  new  earth,  and  the 
former  things  shall  not  be  remembered,  nor  come  into  mm  . 

“  But  be  ye  glad  and  rejoice  for  ever  in  that  which  I  create .  for, 
behold,  I  create  Jerusalem  a  rejoicing,  and  her  peop  e  a  joy 
And  I  will  rejoice  in  Jerusalem,  and  joy  in  my  people  :  and  th„ 
voice  of  weeping  shall  be  no  more  heard  in  her,  nor  the  voice  o 

Cr  “  Before  they  call,  I  will  answer ;  and  while  they  are  yet  speah- 
i  wpi  hear.  The  wolf  and  the  lamb  shall  feed  toget  er,  an 
fhftoshall  eat  straw  like  the  ox  :  and  dust  shall  be  the  serpent’s 
meat  They  shall  not  hurt  nor  kill  in  all  my  holy  mountain 
Is.  lvi.  “Thus  saith  the  Lord,  Keep  ye  judgment,  and  do 
justice :  for  my  salvation  is  near  to  come,  and  my  righteousness 

to  be  revealed.  _ n 

«  Blessed  is  the  man  that  doeth  this,  and  the  son  of  man  that 

keepeth  my  salvation  and  holdeth  his  hand  from  doing  any  evil. 

“Neither  let  the  strangers,  that  have  joined  themselves  to  the 
Lord,  say,  God  will  separate  me  from  his  people.  For  thus  salt 
the  Lord  •  Whoso  will  keep  my  sabbaths,  and  choose  the  things 
that  please  me,  and  take  hold  of  my  covenant ;  Even  unto  them 
will  /give  in  mine  house  a  place  and  a  name  better  than  of  sons 
and  of  daughters :  I  will  give  them  an  everlasting  name,  that 

shall  not  be  cut  off  .  •  • 

“  Therefore  is  judgment  far  from  us  :  we  wait  tor  light,  but 
behold  obscurity  ;  for  brightness,  but  we  walk  in  darkness.  e 
m  ope  for  the  wall  like  the  blind :  we  stumble  at  noon  day  as  in 
The  night ;  we  are  in  desolate  places  as  dead  men. 

“We  roar  all  like  bears,  and  mourn  sore  like  doves  :  we  look  for 
judgment,  but  there  is  none ;  for  salvation,  but  it  is  far  from  us. 

I saiah  lxvi.  1 8.  “  But  I  know  their  works  and  their  *ouShts  • 

1  come  that  I  may  gather  all  nations  and  tongues,  and  they  shall 

Se“  AndSi°wm  set  a  sign  among  them,  and  I  will  send  of  them 
that  shall  be  saved  unto  the  nation?,  to  Africa,  to  Lydia,  to  Ita  y, 
ro  Greece,  and  to  the  people  that  have  not  heard  my  name, 
neither  have  seen  my  glory.  And  they  shall  bring  your  brethren. 


THE  PROPHECIES. 


149 

Jcr.  vii.  Reprobation  of  the  Temple. 

“  But  go  ye  to  Shiloh,  where  I  set  my  name  at  the  first,  and  see 
what  I  did  to  it  for  the  wickedness  of  my  people.  And  now, 
because  ye  have  done  all  these  works,  saith  the  Lord,  I  will  do 
unto  this  house,  in  which  my  name  is  called  upon,  wherein  ye 
trust,  and  unto  the  place  which  I  gave  to  your  priests,  as  I  have 
done  to  Shiloh.”  For  I  have  rejected  it  and  made  myself  a 
temple  elsewhere. 

“And  I  will  cast  you  out  of  my  sight,  as  I  have  cast  out  all  your 
brethren,  the  whole  seed  of  Ephraim.”  Rejected  absolutely. 

“  Therefore  pray  not  thou  for  this  people. 

Jer.  vii.  21.  What  avails  it  you  to  add  sacrifice  to  sacrifice? 
For  I  spake  not  unto  your  fathers,  when  I  brought  them  out  of 
the  land  of  Egypt,  concerning  burnt  offerings  or  sacrifices  :  But 
this  thing  commanded  I  them,  saying,  Obey  my  voice,  and  I  will 
be  your  God,  and  ye  shall  be  my  people.”  For  it  was  only  after 
they  had  sacrificed  to  golden  calves  that  I  gave  myself  sacrifices 
to  turn  into  good  an  evil  custom.  Jer.  vii.  4.  “  Trust  not  in 

lying  words,  saying,  The  temple  of  the  Lord,  The  temple  of  the 
Lord,  The  temple  of  the  Lord,  are  these.” 

Proofs  by  the  Jews. — Captivity  of  the  Jews  without  restoration. 
Jeremiah  xi.  11.  “I  will  bring  evil  on  Judah  which  they  shall 
not  be  able  to  escape.” 

Types. — Isaiah  v.  “The  Lord  had  a  vineyard  from  which  he 
looked  for  grapes,  and  it  brought  forth  wild  grapes.  I  will  there¬ 
fore  uproot  and  destroy  it,  the  earth  shall  produce  nothing  but 
thorns,  and  I  will  forbid  the  heaven  .  .  . 

“  The  vineyard  of  the  Lord  is  the  house  of  Israel,  and  the  men 
of  Judah  his  pleasant  plant.  I  looked  that  they  should  do 
justice,  and  they  bring  forth  only  iniquities.” 

Isaiah  viii.  “  Sanctify  the  Lord  with  fear  and  trembling,  and 
let  him  be  your  fear  ;  but  he  shall  be  for  a  stone  of  stumbling 
and  for  a  rock  of  offence  to  both  the  houses  of  Israel,  for  a  gin 
and  for  a  snare  to  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem.  And  many 
among  them  shall  stumble  against  that  stone,  and  fall,  and  be 
broken,  and  be  snared,  and  be  taken,  and  perish.  Hide  my 
words  and  cover  my  law  for  my  disciples. 


15° 


7 HE  PROPHECIES . 


“  And  I  will  wait  upon  the  Lord,  that  hideth  his  face  from  the 

house  of  Jacob.”  , 

Isaiah  xxix.  “  Be  astonished,  and  wonder,  O  people  of  Israel  ; 

waver  and  stagger :  be  drunken,  but  not  with  wine  ;  stagger, 
but  not  with  strong  drink.  For  the  Lord  hath  mingled  for 
you  the  spirit  of  deep  sleep.  He  will  shut  up  your  eyes  :  he 
will  cover  your  prophets  and  princes  that  see  visions.”  Daniel  xn. 

“  The  wicked  shall  not  understand,  but  the  wise  shall  under¬ 
stand.”  Hosea,  the  last  chapter,  the  last  verse,  after  many 
temporal  blessings  says  :  “  Who  is  wise,  and  he  shall  under¬ 
stand  these  things,”  etc. 

“  And  the  visions  of  all  the  prophets  are  become  unto  you  as  a 
book  that  is  sealed,  which  men  deliver  to  one  that  is  learned, 
and  who  can  read  :  and  he  saith,  I  cannot  read  it  ;  for  it  is  seale  : 
And  when  the  book  is  delivered  to  him  that  is  not  learned,  he 

saith,  I  am  not  learned.  _ 

“  Wherefore  the  Lord  said,  Forasmuch  as  this  people  with  their 

lips  do  honour  me,  but  have  removed  their  heart  far  from  me,”— 
there  is  the  reason  and  the  cause,  for  they  adore.  God  m  their 
heart,  and  understand  the  prophecies,— “  and  their  fear  toward 

me  is  taught  by  the  precept  of  men. 

“  Therefore,  behold,  I  will  proceed  to  do  among  this  people 
a  marvellous  work  and  a  wonder  :  for  the  wisdom  of  their  wise 
men  shall  perish,  and  the  understanding  .  .  . 

Prophecies.  Proof  of  divinity.  Isaiah  xli. 

“  Shew  the  things  that  are  to  come  hereafter,  that  we  may  know 
that  ye  are  gods  :  and  we  will  incline  our  heart  unto  )our  words. 
Teach  us  the  things  that  have  been  from  the  beginning  and 

prophecy  those  that  are  to  come. 

“By  this  we  shall  know  that  ye  are  gods.  Tea,  do  good,  or 
do  evil,  if  you  can.  Come  now  and  let  us  reason  together. 

“  Behold,  ye  are  of  nothing,  and  an  abomination,  etc.  Who 
hath  declared  from  the  beginning,  that  we  may  know?  and 
beforetime,  that  we  may  say,  He  is  righteous?  yes.,  t  ere 
is  none  that  sheweth,  yea,  there  is  none  that  declareth  the 

future.”  T  t  .  .n 

Is.  xlii.  “  I  am  the  Lord  :  and  my  glory  will  I  not  give  to 

another.  I  have  foretold  the  former  things  which  have  come 


THE  PROPHECIES. 


151 

to  pass,  and  declare  those  which  are  to  come.  Sing  a  new  song 
to  God  in  all  the  earth.” 

“  Bring  forth  the  blind  people  that  have  eyes  and  see  not,  and 
the  deaf  that  have  ears  and  hear  not.  Let  all  the  nations  be 
gathered  together.  Who  among  them  and  their  Gods  can  de¬ 
clare  this,  and  shew  us  former  things,  and  things  to  come?  Let 
them  bring  forth  their  witnesses,  that  they  may  be  justified  :  or 
let  them  hear,  and  say,  It  is  truth. 

“Ye  are  my  witnesses,  saith  the  Loid,  and  my  servant  whom 
I  have  chosen  :  that  ye  may  know  and  believe  me,  and  under¬ 
stand  that  I  am  he. 

u  I  have  declared,  and  have  saved,  and  I  have  shewed  wonders 
in  your  eyes  :  therefore  ye  are  my  witnesses,  saith  the  Lord, 
that  I  am  God. 

“For  your  sake  I  have  sent  to  Babylon,  and  have  brought 
down  all  their  nobles.  I  am  the  Lord,  your  sanctifier  and 
creator. 

“  I  have  made  a  way  in  the  sea,  and  a  path  in  the  mighty  waters  ; 
I  am  he  that  destroyed  for  ever  the  powerful  enemies  who 
have  resisted  you. 

“  Remember  ye  not  the  former  things,  neither  consider  the 
things  of  old. 

“  Behold,  I  will  do  a  new  thing ;  now  it  shall  spring  forth  ; 
shall  ye  not  know  it  ?  I  will  even  make  a  way  in  the  wilderness, 
and  rivers  in  the  desert. 

“  This  people  have  I  formed  for  myself ;  they  shall  shew  forth 
my  praise,  etc. 

“  I,  even  I,  am  he  that  blotteth  out  thy  transgressions  for  mine 
own  sake,  and  will  not  remember  thy  sins.  Put  me  in  re¬ 
membrance  :  let  us  plead  together  :  declare  thou,  that  thou 
mayest  be  justified.  Thy  first  father  hath  sinned,  and  thy 
teachers  have  transgressed  against  me.”  Is.  xliv.  “  I  am  the 
first  and  the  last,  saith  the  Lord.  Whoso  will  equal  himself  to 
me,  let  him  declare  the  order  of  things  since  I  formed  the 
first  peoples,  and  the  things  which  are  to  come.  Fear  ye  not, 
have  I  not  declared  all  these  things,  ye  are  my  witnesses.” 

Prophecy  of  Cyrus — “  Because  of  Jacob  whom  I  have  chosen 


152 


THE  PROPHECIES. 


I  have  called  thee  by  thy  name,”  “  Come  and  let  us  reason 
together.  Who  has  declared  this  from  ancient  time,  and  fore¬ 
told  things  to  come?  have  not  I,  the  Lord.” 

Is.  xlvi.  “  Remember  the  former  things  of  old,  and  know  that 
there  is  none  like  me.  Declaring  the  end  from  the  beginning, 
and  from  ancient  times  the  things  that  are  not  yet  done,  saying, 
My  counsel  shall  stand,  and  I  will  do  all  my  pleasure.” 

Is.  xlii.  9.  “  Behold,  the  former  things  are  come  to  pass,  and 

new  things  do  I  declare  :  before  they  spring  forth  I  tell  you 
of  them.” 

Is.  xlviii.  3.  “  I  have  declared  the  former  things  from  the 

beginning  ;  and  I  shewed  them  ;  and  they  came  to  pass.  Be¬ 
cause  I  knew  that  thou  art  obstinate,  that  thy  spirit  is  rebel¬ 
lious,  and  thy  brow  brassy  I  have  even  before  it  came  to  pass 
shewed  it  thee  :  lest  thou  shouldst  say,  that  it  was  the  work  of 
thy  Gods  and  the  effect  of  their  commands. 

“  Thou  hast  seen  all  this  ;  and  will  not  ye  declare  it  ?  I  have 
shewed  thee  new  things  from  this  time,  even  hidden  things,  and 
thou  didst  not  know  them.  They  are  created  now,  and  not 
from  the  beginning  ;  even  before  the  day  when  thou  heardst 
them  not  ;  lest  thou  shouldst  say,  Behold,  I  knew  them. 

Yea,  thou  heardest  not  ;  yea,  thou  knewest  not ;  yea,  from 
that  time  that  thine  ear  was  not  opened  :  for  I  knew  that 
thou  wouldst  deal  very  treacherously,  and  wast  called  a 
transgressor  from  the  womb.” 

—Prophecies.  In  Egypt— Pugio  Fidei ,  659.  Talmud. 

It  is  a  tradition  among  us  that  wrhen  the  Messiah  shall  come, 
the  house  of  God,  destined  for  the  dispensation  of  his  word, 
shall  be  full  of  filth  and  impurity,  that  the  wisdom  of  the  scribes 
shall  be  corrupt  and  rotten  ;  that  those  who  fear  to  sin  shall  be 
reproved  by  the  people,  and  treated  as  fools  and  madmen. 

Is.  xlix. 

“  Listen,  O  isles,  unto  me,  and  hearken  ye  people  from  far  : 
The  Lord  hath  called  me  by  my  name  even  from  the  womb 
of  my  mother  ;  he  hath  hid  me  in  the  shadow  of  his  hand,  he 
hath  made  my  words  like  a  sharp  sword,  and  said  :  Thou  art 


THE  PROPHECIES. 


153 


my  servant,  in  whom  I  will  be  glorified.  And  I  said,  Lord,  have 
I  laboured  in  vain  ?  have  I  spent  my  strength  for  nought  ?  yet 
is  my  judgment  with  thee,  O  Lord,  and  my  work  before  thee. 
When  the  Lord,  who  has  formed  me  from  the  womb  of  my 
mother  to  be  wholly  for  himself,  in  order  to  bring  Jacob  and 
Israel  again  to  him,  said  unto  me  :  Thou  shalt  be  glorious  in 
my  sight,  and  I  will  be  thy  strength.  It  is  a  light  thing  that 
thou  shouldst  convert  the  tribes  of  Jacob  ;  I  will  also  give  thee 
for  a  light  to  the  Gentiles,  that  thou  mayest  be  my  salvation 
unto  the  ends  of  the  earth.  These  are  the  things  which  the 
Lord  hath  said  to  him  that  humbleth  his  soul  to  him  whom  the 
nation  abhorreth,  to  a  servant  of  rulers.  Princes  and  kings  shall 
worship  thee  because  the  Lord  is  faithful  that  hath  chosen  thee. 

“Again  the  Lord  said  unto  me:  I  have  heard  thee  in  the 
days  of  salvation  and  of  mercy,  and  I  have  established  thee  for 
a  covenant  of  the  people,  and  to  cause  thee  to  inherit  the 
desolate  nations,  that  thou  mayest  say  to  those  who  are  in 
chains  :  Go  forth,  and  to  those  that  are  in  darkness  :  Come 
into  the  light,  and  possess  these  abundant  and  fertile  lands. 
They  shall  no  more  labour,  nor  hunger,  nor  thirst,  neither  shall 
the  sun  smite  them  ;  for  he  that  hath  mercy  on  them  shall  lead 
them,  even  by  the  springs  of  waters  shall  he  guide  them,  and 
make  the  mountains  plain  before  them.  Behold,  the  peoples 
shall  come  from  all  parts,  from  the  East  and  from  the  West, 
from  the  North  and  from  the  South.  Let  the  heaven  give  glory 
to  God,  let  the  earth  rejoice,  for  it  hath  pleased  the  Lord  to 
comfort  his  people,  and  he  will  have  mercy  on  the  poor  who 
hope  in  him. 

“Yet  Sion  hath  dared  to  say  :  The  Lord  hath  forsaken  and 
hath  forgotten  me.  Can  a  woman  forget  her  sucking  child, 
that  she  should  not  have  compassion  on  the  son  of  her  womb, 
but  if  she  forget,  yet  will  I  not  forget  thee,  O  Sion.  I  will  bear 
thee  always  between  my  hands,  and  thy  walls  shall  be  ever 
before  me.  Thy  builders  are  come,  thy  destroyers  shall  go 
forth  of  thee.  Lift  up  thy  eyes  round  about,  and  see  all  these 
are  gathered  together,  to  come  to  thee  :  as  I  live,  saith  the 
Lord,  thou  shalt  be  clothed  with  all  these  as  with  an  ornament, 
thy  deserts,  and  thy  desolate  places,  and  the  land  of  thy  de- 


154 


THE  PROPHECIES. 


struction  shall  now  be  too  narrow  by  reason  of  the  inhabitants, 
and  the  children  of  thy  barrenness  shall  still  say  in  thy  ears  : 
the  place  is  too  strait  for  me,  make  me  room  to  dwell  in.  And 
thou  shalt  say  in  thy  heart :  Who  hath  begotten  these  ?  I  was 
barren  and  brought  not  forth,  led  away,  and  captive  :  and  who 
hath  brought  up  these  ?  I  was  destitute  and  alone  :  and  these, 
where  were  they  ?  And  the  Lord  shall  say  :  Behold,  I  will 
lift  up  my  hand  to  the  Gentiles,  and  will  set  up  my  standard 
to  the  people.  And  they  shall  bring  thy  children  in  their  arms, 
and  in  their  bosoms.  And  kings  shall  be  thy  nursing  fathers, 
and  queens  thy  nursing  mothers  :  they  shall  worship  thee  with 
their  face  toward  the  earth,  and  they  shall  lick  up  the  dust  of 
thy  feet.  And  thou  shalt  know  that  I  am  the  Lord,  for  they  shall 
not  be  confounded  that  wait  for  him.  Shall  the  prey  be  taken 
from  the  strong  and  mighty  ?  But  even  if  the  captivity  be  taken 
away  from  the  strong  :  nothing  can  hinder  me  to  judge  those 
that  have  judged  thee,  and  thy  children  I  will  save.  And  all 
flesh  shall  know,  that  I  am  the  Lord  thy  Saviour,  and  thy 
Redeemer  the  mighty  One  of  Jacob. 

“  Thus  saith  the  Lord  :  What  is  this  divorcement,  wherewith 
I  have  put  away  the  synagogue,  and  why  have  I  delivered  it 
into  the  hands  of  your  enemies  ;  is  it  not  for  your  iniquities  and 
your  transgressions  that  I  have  put  it  away  ? 

“  For  I  came,  and  no  man  would  receive  me,  I  called  and 
none  would  hear.  Is  my  arm  shortened  that  I  cannot  save  ? 

“  Therefore  will  I  show  the  tokens  of  my  anger,  I  will  clothe 
the  heavens  with  darkness,  and  will  make  sackcloth  their 
covering. 

“  The  Lord  hath  given  me  the  tongue  of  the  learned  that  I 
should  know  how  to  uphold  by  word  him  that  is  weary.  He 
hath  wakened  my  ear,  and  I  have  heard  him  as  a  master. 

“  The  Lord  hath  revealed  his  will  and  I  was  not  rebellious. 

“  I  gave  my  body  to  the  smiters,  and  my  cheeks  to  outrage, 
I  hid  not  my  face  from  shame  and  spitting,  but  the  Lord  has 
helped  me,  therefore  I  was  not  confounded. 

“  He  is  near  that  justifieth  me  ;  who  will  contend  with  me,  and 
accuse  me  of  sin,  since  God  himself  is  my  protector? 

“All  men  shall  pass  and  be  consumed  by  time,  let  those  that 


THE  PROPHECIES. 


155 


fear  the  Lord  hearken  to  the  words  of  his  servant,  let  him  that 
languisheth  in  darkness  put  his  trust  in  the  Lord.  But  as  for 
you,  you  do  but  set  alight  upon  you  the  wrath  of  God,  you  walk 
upon  the  coals  and  among  the  flames  you-  have  kindled.  This 
ye  have  of  my  hand,  ye  shall  perish  in  sorrow. 

“  Hearken  to  me,  ye  that  follow  after  righteousness,  ye  that 
seek  the  Lord  :  look  unto  the  rock  whence  ye  are  hewn,  and  to 
the  hole  of  the  pit  whence  ye  are  digged.  Look  unto  Abraham 
your  father,  and  unto  Sarah  that  bare  you  :  for  I  called  him 
when  he  was  alone,  and  childless,  and  increased  him.  For  the 
Lord  has  comforted  Zion  :  and  has  heaped  on  her  blessings 
and  consolations. 

“  Hearken  unto  me,  my  people  ;  and  give  ear  unto  me,  for  a 
law  shall  proceed  from  me,  and  I  will  make  my  judgment  to 
rest  for  a  light  of  the  Gentiles.” 

Amos  viii.  The  prophet  having  enumerated  the  sins  of 
Israel,  said  that  God  had  sworn  to  take  vengeance  on  them. 

He  saith  also  :  “  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that  day,  saith 
the  Lord,  that  the  sun  shall  go  down  at  mid-day,  and  I  will 
make  the  earth  dark  in  the  day  of  light  :  And  I  will  turn  your 
feasts  into  mourning,  and  all  your  songs  into  lamentation. 

“You  shall  have  sorrow  and  suffering,  and  I  will  make  the 
sorrow  as  the  mourning  of  an  only  son,  and  the  latter  end  thereof 
as  a  bitter  day.  Behold  the  days  come,  saith  the  Lord,  and  I 
will  send  forth  a  famine  into  the  land  :  not  a  famine  of  bread, 
nor  a  thirst  of  water,  but  of  hearing  the  words  of  the  Lord.  And 
they  shall  move  from  sea  to  sea,  and  from  the  North  to  the  East : 
they  shall  go  about  seeking  the  word  of  the  Lord,  and  shall  not 
find  it. 

“  In  that  day  their  fair  virgins,  and  their  young  men  shall  faint 
for  thirst.  They  that  have  followed  the  idols  of  Samaria,  and 
sworn  by  the  god  of  Dan  ;  who  have  followed  the  worship  of 
Beersheba  ;  they  shall  fall,  and  shall  rise  no  more.” 

Amos  iii.  2.  “  Of  all  nations  of  the  earth,  I  have  chosen  you 

only  to  be  my  people.” 

Daniel  xii.  7.  Daniel  having  described  all  the  extent  of 
Messiah’s  reign,  says,  “  All  these  things  shall  be  done  when  the 
dispersion  of  my  people  shall  be  accomplished.” 


156 


THE  PROPHECIES. 


Haggai  ii.  3.  “  You  who  compare  this  second  house  with  the  glory 
of  the  first  and  despise  it.  Yet  now  take  courage,  O  Zerubbabel, 
saith  the  Lord,  and  take  courage  O  Jesus  the  high  priest,  and 
take  courage,  all  ye  people  of  the  land,  and  cease  not  to  work. 
The  word  that  I  covenanted  with  you  when  you  came  out  of 
the  land  of  Egypt  stands  yet  :  and  my  spirit  shall  be  in  the 
midst  of  you  :  Lose  not  hope.  For  thus  saith  the  Lord  of 
hosts  :  Yet  one  little  while,  and  I  will  move  the  heaven  and  the 
earth,  and  the  sea,  and  the  dry  land/’ — a  mode  of  speech  to 
denote  a  great  and  extraordinary  change.  “  And  I  will  move 
all  nations  :  and  the  desired  of  all  nations  shall  come  :  and  I 
will  fill  this  house  with  glory  :  saith  the  Lord. 

“  The  silver  is  mine,  and  the  gold  is  mine,  saith  the  Lord,” — 
that  is  to  say,  it  is  not  by  that  that  I  will  be  honoured,  as  it  is 
said  in  another  place.  All  the  beasts  of  the  field  are  mine, 
what  good  is  it  to  me  that  they  are  offered  me  in  sacrifice? 
Greater  shall  be  the  glory  of  this  latter  house  than  of  the 
first,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts  :  and  in  this  place  I  will  establish 
my  house,  saith  the  Lord.” 

“  According  to  all  that  you  desired  of  the  Lord  God  in  Horeb 
in  the  day  of  the  assembly,  saying,  Let  us  not  hear  again  the 
voice  of  the  Lord,  neither  let  us  see  this  fire  any  more,  that  we 
die  not.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  me,  Their  prayer  is  just.  I 
will  raise  them  up  a  prophet  from  among  their  brethren,  like 
unto  thee,  and  I  will  put  my  words  in  his  mouth  ;  and  he  shall 
speak  unto  them  all  that  I  shall  command  him.  And  it  shall 
come  to  pass,  that  whosoever  will  not  hearken  unto  my  words 
which  he  shall  speak  in  my  name,  I  will  require  it  of  him.” 

Genesis  xlix.  “Judah,  thou  art  he  whom  thy  brethren  shall 
praise,  and  thou  shalt  vanquish  thine  enemies  ;  thy  father’s 
children  shall  bow  down  before  thee.  Judah,  lion’s  whelp,  thou 
art  gone  up  to  the  prey,  O  my  son,  and  art  couched  as  a  lion, 
and  as  a  lioness  awakened. 

“The  sceptre  shall  not  depart  from  Judah,  nor  a  lawgiver 
from  between  his  feet,  until  Shiloh  come  ;  and  unto  him  shall  the 
gathering  of  the  people  be.” 


OF  TYPES  IN  GENERAL  AND  OF  THEIR 

LA  WFULNESS. 


Proof  of  the  two  Testaments  at  oiice . — To  prove  both  the  Testa¬ 
ments  at  one  stroke  we  need  only  see  if  the  prophecies  in  one 
are  accomplished  in  the  other. 

To  examine  the  prophecies  we  must  understand  them. 

For  if  we  believe  they  have  only  one  sense  it  is  certain  that 
Messiah  has  not  come  ;  but  if  they  have  two  senses,  it  is  certain 
that  he  has  come  in  Jesus  Christ. 

The  whole  question  then  is  to  know  if  they  have  two  senses  .  .  . 

That  the  Scripture  has  two  senses,  which  Jesus  Christ  and  his 
Apostles  have  given,  the  following  are  the  proofs  : 

1.  Proof  by  Scripture  itself. 

2.  Proofs  by  the  Rabbis.  Moses  Maimonides  says  that  it  has 
two  faces,  and  that  the  prophets  have  prophesied  Jesus  Christ 
only. 

3.  Proofs  by  the  Cabala. 

4.  Proofs  by  the  mystical  interpretation  which  the  rabbis  them¬ 
selves  have  given  to  the  Scripture. 

5.  Proofs  by  the  principles  laid  down  by  the  rabbis  that  there  are 
two  senses,  that  there  are  two  advents  of  the  Messiah ;  one  in  glory, 
and  one  in  humiliation,  according  to  their  deserts  ;  that  the  pro¬ 
phets  have  prophesied  of  Messiah  only.  The  Law  is  not  eternal, 
but  must  change  when  Messiah  comes;  that  then  they  shall 
no  more  remember  the  Red  Sea  ;  that  the  Jews  and  the  Gen¬ 
tiles  shall  be  mingled. 


It  is  as  those  among  whom  there  is  a  certain  secret  language. 


158  OF  TYPES  IN  GENE  PAL 

Those  who  do  not  understand  it  can  see  in  it  only  a  foolish 
sense. 

Typical. — The  figures  of  a  sword,  a  shield. 

Potentissime. 

To  change  the  type,  because  of  our  weakness. 

Types. — The  prophets  prophesied  by  figures  of  a  girdle,  a  beard 
and  burnt  hair,  etc. 


Two  errors  :  i,  to  take  all  literally  ;  2,  to  take  all  spiritually. 

The  veil  which  is  upon  these  books  for  the  Jews  is  there  also 
for  bad  Christians,  and  for  all  who  do  not  hate  themselves. 

But  those  who  truly  hate  themselves  are  in  a  disposition  to 
understand  the  Scriptures  and  to  know  Jesus  Christ. 

Types. — To  show  that  the  Old  Testament  is  only  figurative, 
and  that  by  temporal  possessions  the  prophets  understood 
others,  this  is  the  proof :  1,  that  this  were  unworthy  of  God  ; 
2,  that  their  discourses  express  very  clearly  the  promise  of 
temporal  possessions,  and  that  they  say  nevertheless  that  their 
discourses  are  obscure,  and  that  their  sense  will  not  be  under¬ 
stood.  Whence  it  appears  that  this  secret  sense  is  not  that  which 
they  openly  expressed,  and  that  consequently  they  meant  to 
speak  of  other  sacrifices,  of  another  deliverer,  etc.  They  say  that 
they  will  be  understood  only  in  the  fulness  of  time.  Jer.  xxxiii. 

The  third  proof  is  that  their  discourses  are  contradictory  and 
destroy  each  other,  so  that  if  we  think  they  did  not  mean  by 
the  words  law  and  sacrifice  aught  else  than  those  of  Moses,  there 
is  a  gross  and  obvious  contradiction.  Therefore  they  meant 
something  else,  occasionally  contradicting  themselves  in  the 
same  chapter. 

Now  to  understand  the  sense  of  an  author  .  .  . 


A  type  brings  with  it  absence  and  presence ,  pleasure  and  pain. 


AND  OF  THEIR  LAWFULNESS.  159 

A  cipher  with  a  double  sense,  one  clear,  and  in  which  it  is 
said  that  the  sense  is  hidden  .  .  . 

A  portrait  brings  with  it  absence  and  presence,  pleasure  and 
pain.  The  reality  excludes  absence  and  pain. 

Types. — To  know  if  the  law  and  the  sacrifices  are  real  or 
figurative,  we  must  see  if  the  prophets  in  speaking  of  these 
things  limited  their  view  and  their  thoughts  to  them,  so  that 
they  saw  only  the  old  covenant ;  or  if  they  saw  in  them  somewhat 
else  of  which  they  were  the  semblance,  for  in  a  portrait  we  see  the 
thing  figured.  For  this  we  need  only  examine  what  they  say. 

When  they  speak  of  it  as  eternal,  do  they  mean  that  same 
covenant  which  they  elsewhere  say  will  be  changed  ;  so  of  the 
sacrifices,  etc.  ? 

A  cipher  has  two  senses.  If  we  intercept  an  important  letter 
in  which  we  see  an  obvious  meaning,  wherein  it  is  nevertheless 
declared  that  the  sense  is  veiled  and  obscure,  that  it  is  con¬ 
cealed,  so  that  the  letter  might  be  read  without  discovering  it, 
and  understood  without  understanding,  we  can  but  think  that 
here  is  a  cipher  with  a  double  sense,  and  all  the  more  if  we  find 
manifest  contradictions  in  the  literal  sense.  How  greatly  we 
ought  to  value  those  who  interpret  the  cipher,  and  explain  to 
us  the  hidden  sense,  especially  if  the  principles  they  extract 
are  wholly  natural  and  clear.  This  is  what  Jesus  Christ  did, 
and  the  Apostles.  They  broke  the  seal,  he  rent  the  veil,  and 
revealed  the  spirit.  They  have  thereto  aught  us  that  man’s 
enemies  are  his  passions  ;  that  the  _  .^ueerner  is  to  be  spiritual 
and  his  reign  spiritual ;  that  there  are  to  be  two  advents,  one  in 
lowliness  to  abase  the  proud,  the  other  in  glory  to  exalt  the 
humble;  that  Jesus  Christ  is  God  and  man. 

The  prophets  said  clearly  that  Israel  would  be  always  the 
beloved  of  God,  that  the  law  would  be  eternal,  they  have  said 
also  that  their  meaning  would  not  be  understood,  and  that  it 
was  veiled. 

Types. — When  the  word  of  God,  which  cannot  lie,  is  false 
literally,  it  is  true  spiritually.  Sede  a  dextris  meis,  is  false  literally, 
therefore  it  is  true  spiritually. 


l6o  OF  TYPES  IN  GENERAL 

In  these  expressions  God  is  spoken  of  after  the  manner  of 
men,  and  this  means  only  that  the  intention  which  men  have 
in  giving  a  seat  at  their  right  hand,  God  will  also  have.  It  is 
then  a  mark  of  the  intention  of  God,  not  of  his  mode  of  carrying 

it  out.  ,  . 

Thus  when  it  is  said  “  God  has  received  the  odour  of  your  in¬ 
cense  and  will  in  return  give  you  a  fat  land,”  this  means  that  the 
same  intention  which  a  man  will  have,  who,  pleased  with  your 
perfumes,  will  give  you  a  fat  land,  God  will  have  towards  you, 
because  you  have  had  towards  him  the  same  intention  as  a  man 
has  for  him  to  whom  he  offers  a  sweet  savour.  So  iratus  esi ,  a 
jealous  God,  etc.,  for  the  things  of  God  being  inexpressible,  t  ey 
cannot  be  said  otherwise.  And  the  Church  uses  them  still :  Quia 

confortavit  seras,  etc. 


Difference  between  dinner  and  supper. 

In  God  the  word  differs  not  from  the  intention,  for  he  is  true, 
nor  the  word  from  the  effect,  for  he  is  powerful,  nor  the  means 
from  the  effect,  for  he  is  wise.  Bern.  ult.  sermo  tn  Missam 
Aug.,  de  Civil,  v.  io.  This  rule  is  general.  God  can  do  all, 
except  those  things  which  if  he  could  do  he  would  not  be 
almighty,  as  dying,  being  deceived,  lying,  etc. 

Many  evangelists  for  the  confirmation  of  the  truth.  Their 

differences  are  useful.  , 

The  Eucharist  after  the  Lord’s  Supper.  Truth  after  the 

t}  The  ruin  of  Jerusalem,  ^  type  of  the  ruin  of  the  world,  forty 
years  after  the  death  of  Jesus. 

“  I  know  not”  as  a  man  or  as  an  ambassador.  Matt.  xxiv.  3b. 
Jesus  condemned  by  the  Jews  and  the  Gentiles. 

The  Jews  and  the  Gentiles  figured  by  the  two  sons. 

Aug.  de  Civit.  xx.  29. 


The  figures  of  the  Gospel  for  the  state  of  the  sick  soul  are  sick 
bodies,  but  because  one  body  cannot  be  sufficiently  sick  to 
express  it  well,  several  are  needed.  Thus  there  are  the  deaf,  the 
dumb,  the  blind,  the  paralytic,  the  dead  Lazarus,  the  possesse  ; 
all  this  together  is  in  the  sick  soul. 


AND  OF  THEIR  LAWFULNESS.  161 


Isaiah,  li.  The  Red  Sea  an  image  of  the  Redemption. 

“  Ut  sciatis  quod  Jilius  hominis  habet  potest atem  remittendi 
peccata ,  tibi  dico  :  Surged 

God,  willing  to  show  that  he  was  able  to  form  a  people  holy 
with  an  invisible  holiness,  and  to  fill  them  with  an  eternal  glory, 
made  visible  things.  As  nature  is  an  image  of  grace,  he 
has  done  in  the  excellences  of  nature  what  he  would  accomplish 
in  those  of  grace,  in  order  that  men  might  judge  that  he  could 
make  the  invisible  since  he  made  the  visible  so  well. 

Thus  he  saved  this  people  from  the  deluge,  he  has  raised  them 
up  from  Abraham,  redeemed  them  from  their  enemies,  and 
caused  them  to  enter  into  rest. 

The  object  of  God  was  not  to  save  them  from  the  deluge,  and 
raise  up  a  whole  people  to  Abraham,  only  in  order  to  bring  them 
into  a  fat  land. 

And  so  grace  itself  is  but  the  figure  of  glory,  for  it  is  not  the 
ultimate  end.  It  was  symbolised  by  the  law,  and  itself  symbolises 
grace,  but  it  is  the  figure  of  it,  and  the  origin  or  cause. 

The  ordinary  life  of  man  is  like  that  of  the  saints.  They  all 
seek  their  satisfaction,  and  differ  only  in  the  object  wherein  they 
place  it ;  they  call  those  their  enemies  who  hinder  them,  etc. 
God  then  has  shown  the  power  which  he  has  to  give  invisible 
possessions,  by  the  power  which  he  has  shown  over  things  visible. 

And  yet  this  covenant,  made  to  blind  some  and  enlighten 
others,  marked  in  those  very  men  whom  it  blinded  the  truth  which 
should  be  recognised  by  others.  For  the  visible  possessions 
which  they  received  from  God  were  so  great  and  so  divine  that 
it  certainly  appeared  he  was  able  to  give  them  those  which  are 
invisible,  as  well  as  a  Messiah. 

For  nature  is  an  image  of  grace,  and  visible  miracles  are  the 
image  of  the  invisible.  Ut  sciatis,  tibi  dico :  Surge. 

Isaiah,  li.,  says  that  Redemption  will  be  as  the  passage  of  the 
Red  Sea. 

God  then  has  shown  by  the  deliverance  from  Egypt,  and  from 
the  sea,  by  the  defeat  of  the  kings,  by  the  manna,  by  the  whole 
genealogy  of  Abraham,  that  he  was  able  to  save,  to  send  down 

M 


i62 


OF  TYPES  IN  GENERAL 


bread  from  heaven,  etc.,  so  that  the  people  at  enmity  with  him  is 
the  type  and  the  representation  of  the  very  Messiah  whom  they 
know  not,  etc. 

He  has  then  shown  us  at  last  that  all  these  things  were  only 
types,  and  what  is  true  freedom,  a  true  Israelite,  true  circum¬ 
cision,  true  bread  from  heaven,  etc. 

In  these  promises  each  man  finds  what  he  chiefly  desires, 
temporal  possessions  or  spiritual,  God  or  the  creatures  ;  but  with 
this  difference,  that  those  who  therein  seek  the  creatures  find  them, 
but  attended  by  many  contradictions,  with  a  prohibition  against 
loving  them,  with  the  injunction  to  worship  God  only,  and  to 
love  him  only,  which  is  the  same  thing,  and  finally  that  the 
Messiah  came  not  for  them  ;  whilst  on  the  contrary  those  who 
therein  seek  God  find  him,  without  any  contradiction,  with  the 
injunction  to  love  him  only,  and  that  the  Messiah  came  in  the 
time  foretold,  to  give  them  the  possessions  which  they  ask. 

Thus  the  Jews  had  miracles  and  prophecies,  of  which  they  saw 
the  accomplishment,  and  the  teaching  of  their  law  was  that  they 
should  love  and  worship  God  alone  ;  it  was  also  perpetual.  Thus 
it  had  all  the  marks  of  the  true  religion,  as  indeed  it  was,  but  we 
must  distinguish  between  the  teaching  of  the  Jews,  and  the 
teaching  of  the  Jewish  law.  Now  the  teaching  of  the  Jews  was 
not  true,  although  it  had  miracles  and  prophecy  and  perpetuity, 
because  it  had  not  this  further  point,  the  worship  and  love  of 
God  only. 

The  reason  of  types. 

They  had  to  deal  with  a  carnal  people,  and  to  render  them 
the  depositary  of  a  spiritual  covenant. 

To  give  faith  in  the  Messiah  it  was  necessary  there  should 
have  been  antecedent  prophecies,  in  the  charge  of  persons  above 
suspicion,  diligent,  faithful,  singularly  zealous,  and  known  to  all 
the  world. 

That  all  this  might  be  accomplished,  God  chose  this  carnal 
people,  to  whom  he  entrusted  the  prophecies  which  foretell  the 
Messiah  as  a  deliverer,  and  as  a  dispenser  of  those  carnal  posses¬ 
sions  which  the  people  loved.  And  thus  they  have  had  an 
extraordinary  zeal  for  their  prophets,  and,  in  sight  of  the  whole 


AND  OF  THEIR  LAWFULNESS.  163 

world,  have  had  charge  of  these  books  which  foretell  their 
Messiah,  assuring  all  the  nations  that  he  should  come,  and  in  the 
manner  foretold  in  their  books,  which  they  held  open  to  all  the 
world.  But  this  people  deceived  by  the  poor  and  ignominious 
advent  of  the  Messiah  have  been  his  most  cruel  enemies.  So  that 
they,  who  were  of  all  nations  in  the  world  the  least  open  to  the 
suspicion  of  favouring  us,  the  most  scrupulous  and  most  zealous 
that  can  be  named  for  their  law  and  their  prophets,  have  kept  the 
records  incorrupt. 

Therefore  the  prophecies  have  a  hidden  and  spiritual  sense, 
which  this  people  hated,  under  the  carnal  sense  which  they  loved. 
Had  the  spiritual  sense  been  disclosed,  it  being  such  as  they 
were  unable  to  love,  or  even  to  bear,  they  would  not  have 
been  zealous  to  preserve  their  books  and  their  ceremonies  ;  and 
if  they  had  loved  these  spiritual  promises,  and  had  preserved 
them  incorrupt  till  Messiah  came,  their  witness  would  have  had 
no  force,  because  they  had  been  his  friends.  Therefore  it  was  well 
that  the  spiritual  sense  should  be  concealed  ;  but  on  the  other 
hand,  had  the  sense  been  so  hidden  as  not  to  be  at  all  apparent, 
it  could  not  have  served  as  a  proof  of  the  Messiah.  What  then 
was  done?  In  a  crowd  of  passages  the  spiritual  was  concealed 
under  the  temporal  sense,  and  has  been  clearly  revealed  in  a  few  ; 
again,  the  time  and  the  state  of  the  world  were  so  clearly  fore¬ 
told  that  the  sun  is  not  so  evident.  And  in  some  passages  this 
spiritual  sense  is  so  clearly  expressed  that  no  less  a  blindness 
than  that  which  the  flesh  imposes  on  the  spirit  when  enslaved, 
can  keep  us  from  discerning  it. 

See  then  what  God  has  done.  This  sense  is  concealed  under 
another  in  an  infinite  number  of  passages,  in  some,  though  rarely, 
it  is  revealed,  yet  so  that  the  passages  in  which  it  is  concealed  are 
equivocal,  and  can  suit  both  senses,  while  those  in  which  it  is 
disclosed  are  unequivocal,  and  can  agree  with  the  spiritual  sense 
alone. 

So  that  this  cannot  lead  us  into  error,  and  could  only  be 
misunderstood  by  so  carnal  a  people. 

For  when  possessions  are  promised  in  abundance,  what  could 
hinder  them  from  understanding  the  true  possessions,  save  their 


164 


OF  TYPES  IN  GENERAL 


covetousness,  which  limited  the  sense  to  the  good  things  of  this 
world?  But  those  whose  only  good  was  in  God  referred  the  sense 
to  him  alone.  For  there  are  two  qualities  which  divide  the  will 
of  man,  covetousness  and  charity.  Not  that  covetousness  cannot 
coexist  with  faith  in  God,  nor  charity  with  worldly  possessions, 
but  covetousness  uses  God,  and  enjoys  the  world,  while  the 
opposite  is  the  case  with  charity. 

Now  the  end  we  pursue  gives  names  to  things.  All  which 
hinders  the  attainment  of  this  end,  is  said  to  be  at  enmity  with 
us.  Thus  the  creatures,  however  good,  are  the  enemies  of  the 
just,  when  they  turn  them  aside  from  God,  and  God  himself  is 
the  enemy  of  those  whose  greed  he  opposes. 

Hence  the  word  enemy  being  interpreted  according  to  the  end 
proposed,  the  just  understood  by  it  their  passions,  and  the  carnal 
understood  the  Babylonians,  so  that  the  term  is  obscure  only  for 
the  unrighteous.  And  this  is  what  Isaiah  says  :  Signet  legem  iti 
electis  meis,  and  that  Jesus  Christ  shall  be  a  stone  of  stumbling. 
But, 11  Blessed  are  they  who  shall  not  be  offended  in  him  !  Hosea, 
xiv/  9,  says  excellently  :  “  Where  is  the  wise,  and  he  shall 
understand  these  things.  The  just  shall  know  them,  for  the 
ways  of  God  are  right,  but  the  transgressors  shall  fall  therein.’5 

So  that  those  who  rejected  and  crucified  Jesus  Christ,  being 
offended  at  him,  are  the  same  people  who  bear  the  books  which 
witness  of  him,  and  which  say  that  he  will  be  1  ejected  and  a 
stumbling  stone,  so  that  their  refusal  has  given  an  additional 
mark  that  it  is  he,  and  he  has  been  proved  both  by  the  just  Jews 
who  received  him,  and  the  unjust  Jews  who  rejected  him,  both  of 
whom  were  foretold. 

One  of  the  main  reasons  why  the  prophets  put  a  veil  on  the 
spiritual  possessions  which  they  promised  under  the  figure  of 
temporal  possessions  is,  that  they  had  to  do  with  a  carnal  people 
whom  they  must  make  the  keepers  of  the  spiritual  covenant. 

Jesus  Christ,  prefigured  by  Joseph,  the  beloved  of  his  father, 
sent  by  his  father  to  visit  his  brethren,  etc.,  innocent,  sold  by  his 
brethren  for  twenty  pieces  of  silver,  and  thereby  becoming  their 
lord,  their  saviour,  the  saviour  of  strangers,  and  the  saviour  of  the 


AND  OF  THEIR  LAWFULNESS.  165 

world  ;  all  which  had  not  been  brought  about  but  for  the  plot  for 
his  destruction,  their  sale  and  rejection  of  him. 

In  prison  Joseph  innocent  between  two  criminals  ;  Jesus 
Christ  on  the  cross  between  two  thieves.  Joseph  foretold  deli¬ 
verance  to  the  one,  and  death  to  the  other,  from  the  same  omens. 
Jesus  Christ  saves  the  elect,  and  condemns  the  reprobate  after 
the  same  crimes.  Joseph  foretold  only,  Jesus  Christ  acts. 
Joseph  asked  of  him  who  is  saved  to  be  mindful  of  him  when 
he  has  come  into  his  glory,  and  he  whom  Jesus  Christ  saved 
asked  that  he  would  remember  him  when  he  came  into  his 
Kingdom. 

Types. — Saviour,  father,  sacrificer,  sacrifice,  food,  king,  wise, 
lawgiver,  afflicted,  poor,  having  to  create  a  people,  which  he 
must  lead  and  nourish,  and  bring  into  the  land 

Fascination. — Somnum  suum.  Figura  hu jus  mundi. 

The  Eucharist. — Comedes  pattern  tuum.  Pattern  nostrum. 

Inimici  Dei  terrain  lingent.  The  sinners  lick  the  dust,  that  is 
to  say,  love  earthly  pleasures. 

The  Old  Testament  contained  the  types  of  future  joy,  and 
the  New  contains  the  means  of  attaining  it. 

The  types  were  of  joy,  the  means  of  penitence,  and  never¬ 
theless  the  Paschal  Lamb  was  eaten  with  bitter  herbs,  cum 
amaritudinibus. 

Singularis  sum  ego  donee  transeam.  Jesus  Christ  before  his 
death  was  almost  the  only  martyr. 

To  speak  against  too  greatly  figurative  expressions. 

There  are  some  types  clear  and  demonstrative,  but  others 
which  seem  far-fetched,  and  which  bring  proof  only  to  those 
already  persuaded.  These  may  seem  like  the  sayings  of  the 
Apocalyptics.  But  the  difference  is  that  these  have  none  which 
are  not  doubtful,  so  that  nothing  is  so  unjust  as  to  pretend  that 
theirs  are  as  well  founded  as  some  of  ours,  for  they  have  none  so 
demonstrative  as  some  of  ours.  There  is  no  comparison  possible. 
We  have  no  right  to  compare  and  confound  things  because  they 


i66 


OF  TYPES  IN  GENERAL. 


agree  in  one  point,  while  they  are  so  different  in  another.  What 
is  clear  in  things  divine  forces  us  to  revere  what  is  obscure. 

I  do  not  say  that  the  mem  is  a  mystery. 

We  may  not  attribute  to  the  Scripture  the  sense  which  it  has 
not  revealed  to  us  that  it  contains.  1  hus,  to  say  that  the  closed 
mem  of  Isaiah  means  six  hundred,  has  not  been  revealed.  It  might 
be  said  that  the  final  tsade  and  the  he  deficientes  signify  mysteries. 
But  we  are  not  allowed  to  say  so,  and  still  less  to  say  this  is  the 
way  of  the  philosopher’s  stone.  But  we  say  that  the  literal 
sense  is  not  the  true  sense,  because  the  prophets  said  so 
themselves. 

Extravagances  of  the  Apocalyptics,  Preadamites,  Millena- 
rians ,  etc. — Whoever  would  found  extravagant  opinions  on  the 
Scripture  will  for  instance  found  them  on  the  fact  that  : 

It  is  said  that  “  This  generation  shall  not  pass  away  till  all 
these  things  be  fulfilled.”  On  that  I  will  say  that  after  that 
generation  will  come  another  generation,  and  so  in  constant 
succession. 

The  Second  Book  of  Chronicles  speaks  of  Solomon  and  the 
King  as  if  they  were  two  different  persons.  I  say  that  they 
were  two. 

Against  those  who  misuse  passages  of  Scripture ,  and  who 
are  puffed  up  when  they  find  one  which  seems  to  favour  their 
error. 

The  chapter  for  Vespers,  on  Passion  Sunday,  the  prayer  for 
the  King. 

Explanation  of  these  words  :  “He  that  is  not  with  me  is 
against  me.”  And  these  others  :  “  He  that  is  not  against  you  is 
with  you.”  A  person  who  says  :  I  am  neither  for  nor  against ;  we 
ought  to  answer  him  .  .  .  One  of  the  Antiphons  for  Vespers  at 
Christmas  :  Exortum  est  in  tenebris  lumen  rectis  corde. 


THAT  THE  JEWISH  LAW  WAS 
FIGURATIVE. 


Contradiction.  It  is  not  possible  to  give  a  good  expression  to 
a  portrait  save  by  bringing  all  contraries  into  harmony,  and  it  is 
not  enough  to  dwell  upon  a  series  of  accordant  qualities,  without 
reconciling  the  contraries.  To  understand  the  meaning  of  an 
author  we  must  harmonise  all  the  contrary  passages. 

Thus,  to  understand  Scripture,  we  must  find  a  sense  in 
which  all  the  contrary  passages  are  reconciled  ;  it  is  not  enough 
to  have  one  which  agrees  with  many  consonant  passages,  but 
we  must  find  one  which  reconciles  even  dissonant  passages. 

Every  author  has  a  sense  in  which  all  the  contradictory 
passages  agree,  or  he  has  no  meaning  at  all.  The  latter  cannot 
be  said  of  Scripture  and  the  prophets,  which  assuredly  abound 
in  good  sense.  We  must  then  seek  for  a  meaning  which 
harmonises  all  contraries. 

The  true  sense  then  is  not  that  of  the  Jews,  but  in  Jesus 
Christ  all  dissonances  are  brought  into  harmony. 

The  Jews  could  not  make  the  cessation  of  the  royalty  and 
principality  foretold  by  Hosea  accord  with  the  prophecy  of 
Jacob. 

If  we  take  the  law,  the  sacrifices,  the  kingdom  as  realities,  we 
cannot  reconcile  all  the  passages.  Of  necessity  then  they  are  but 
figures.  We  cannot  even  reconcile  the  passages  of  the  same 
author,  nor  of  the  same  book,  nor  sometimes  of  the  same 
chapter,  which  abundantly  denotes  what  was  the  meaning 
of  the  author.  As  when  Ezekiel,  chap,  xx.,  says  that  man  will 
live  by  the  commandments  of  God  and  will  not  live  by  them. 

It  was  not  lawful  to  sacrifice  elsewhere  than  at  Jerusalem,  the 


1 68  THAT  THE  JEWISH  LAW 

place  which  the  Lord  had  chosen,  nor  even  to  eat  the  tithes  in 
any  other  place.  Deut.  xii.  5,  etc. ;  Deut.  xiv.  23,  etc.  ;  xv.  20  ; 
xvi.  2-15. 

Hosea  foretold  that  the  Jews  should  be  without  king,  without 
prince,  without  sacrifice  and  without  idols,  which  is  accom¬ 
plished  at  this  day,  since  they  are  not  able  to  make  a  lawful 
sacrifice  out  of  Jerusalem. 

Types. — If  the  law  and  the  sacrifices  are  the  truth  it  must 
be  pleasing  to  God,  and  not  displeasing  to  him.  If  they  are 
figures  they  must  be  both  pleasing  and  displeasing. 

Now  through  the  whole  of  Scripture  they  are  both  pleasing 
and  displeasing.  It  is  said  that  the  law  shall  be  changed,  that 
the  sacrifice  shall  be  changed,  that  they  shall  be  without  law, 
without  a  prince  and  without  sacrifices,  that  a  new  covenant  shall 
be  made,  that  the  law  shall  be  renewed,  that  the  precepts  which 
they  have  received  are  not  good,  that  their  sacrifices  are 
abominations,  that  God  has  required  none  of  them. 

It  is  said,  on  the  contrary,  that  the  law  shall  abide  for  ever, 
that  the  covenant  shall  be  eternal,  that  sacrifice  shall  be  eternal, 
that  the  sceptre  shall  never  depart  from  among  them,  because 
it  shall  not  depart  from  them  till  the  coming  of  the  eternal 
King. 

Now  are  all  these  passages  obviously  literal?  No.  Are 
they  obviously  typical?  No,  they  are  obviously  either  real  or 
typical.  But  the  first  set,  which  bar  a  literal  interpretation, 
prove  that  the  whole  are  typical. 

All  these  passages  together  cannot  apply  to  the  thing  signified, 
all  can  apply  to  the  type,  therefore  they  are  not  spoken  of  the 
thing  signified,  but  of  the  type. 

Agnus  occisus  est  ab  origine  mundi.  A  sacrificing  judge. 

Types. — God  willing  to  form  to  himself  an  holy  people, 
whom  he  should  separate  from  all  other  nations,  whom  he 
should  deliver  from  their  enemies,  and  should  establish  in  a  place 
of  rest,  has  not  only  promised  this,  but  has  foretold  by  his 
prophets  the  time  and  the  manner  of  his  coming.  And  yet,  to 
confirm  the  hope  of  his  elect  through  all  ages,  he  made  them 
to  see  it  in  a  figure,  but  never  left  them  without  assurances  of 


WAS  FIGURATIVE. 


169 

his  power  and  of  his  will  to  save  them.  For  at  the  creation  of 
man,  Adam  was  the  witness,  and  the  guardian  of  the  promise  made 
concerning  the  Saviour  who  should  be  born  of  the  woman,  when 
men  were  still  so  near  the  creation  that  they  could  not  have  foi- 
gotten  their  creation  and  their  fall.  When  those  who  had  seen 
Adam  were  no  longer  in  the  world,  God  sent  Noah,  whom  he 
saved,  and  drowned  the  whole  earth  by  a  miracle  which  marked 
sufficiently  both  the  power  which  he  had  to  save  the  world, 
and  the  will  which  he  had  to  do  so  ;  and  to  raise  up  of  the  seed 
of  the  woman  him  whom  he  had  promised. 

This  miracle  was  enough  to  confirm  the  hope  of  men.  The 
memory  of  the  deluge  being  fresh  among  men  while  Noah  was 
still  living,  God  made  promises  to  Abraham,  and  while  Shem 
was  still  living  God  sent  Moses,  etc  .  .  . 

Types. — God,  willing  to  deprive  his  own  of  perishable  pos¬ 
sessions,  made  the  Jewish  people  in  order  to  show  that  this  arose 
from  no  lack  of  power. 

The  Jews  had  grown  old  in  these  earthly  thoughts,  that  God 
loved  their  father  Abraham,  his  flesh,  and  all  that  would  spring 
from  it ;  that  for  this  reason  he  had  multiplied  them,  and  set 
them  apart  from  all  other  peoples,  without  allowing  them  to 
intermingle  ;  that  when  they  were  languishing  in  Egypt  he 
brought  them  out  with  many  wonderful  signs  in  their  favour  ; 
that  he  fed  them  with  manna  in  the  wilderness,  and  brought 
them  out  into  a  very  fat  land  ;  that  he  gave  them  kings  and  a 
well-built  temple,  there  to  offer  beasts  before  him,  by  the  shedding 
of  whose  blood  they  were  purified  ;  that  at  last  he  would  send 
•Messiah  to  make  them  masters  of  the  whole  world,  and  foretold 
the  time  of  his  coming. 

The  world  having  grown  old  in  these  carnal  errors,  Jesus 
Christ  came  at  the  time  foretold,  but  not  with  the  expected  glory, 
and  therefore  men  did  not  think  it  was  he.  After  his  death  Saint 
Paul  came  to  teach  that  all  these  things  had  happened  in  figures, 
that  the  Kingdom  of  God  was  not  in  the  flesh,  but  in  the  spirit ; 
that  the  enemies  of  men  were  not  the  Babylonians,  but  the 
passions  ;  that  God  delighted  not  in  temples  made  with  hands, 


170 


THAT  THE  JEWISH  LAW 


but  in  a  pure  and  contrite  heart ;  that  bodily  circumcision  was 
unprofitable,  but  that  of  the  heart  was  needed  ;  that  Moses  gave 
them  not  that  bread  from  heaven,  etc. 

But  God,  not  willing  to  disclose  these  things  to  a  people  un¬ 
worthy  of  them,  yet  nevertheless  willing  to  foretell  them,  in  order 
that  they  might  be  believed,  foretold  the  time  clearly,  and 
expressed  the  things  sometimes  clearly,  but  generally  in  figures, 
so  that  those  who  loved  the  emblems  might  rest  in  them,  and 
those  who  loved  the  things  figured  might  see  them  therein. 

All  that  tends  not  to  charity  is  figurative. 

The  sole  aim  of  the  Scripture  is  charity. 

All  which  tends  not  to  that  only  end  is  figurative,  for  since 
there  is  but  one  end,  all  which  does  not  refer  to  it  in  express 
terms  is  figurative. 

God  has  so  varied  that  sole'  precept  of  charity  to  satisfy  our 
curiosity,  which  seeks  for  diversity,  by  that  diversity  which  still 
leads  us  to  the  one  thing  needful.  For  one  only  thing  is  needful, 
yet  we  love  diversity,  and  God  satisfies  both  by  these  diversities, 
which  lead  to  the  one  thing  needful. 

The  Jew's  so  loved  the  mere  shadows,  and  waited  for  them 
so  entirely,  that  they  misunderstood  the  substance,  when  it  came 
in  the  time  and  manner  foretold. 

The  rabbis  take  the  breasts  of  the  Spouse  for  figures,  as  they 
do  every  thing  which  does  not  express  the  only  aim  they  had, 
that  of  temporal  good. 

And  Christians  take  even  the  Eucharist  as  a  type  of  the  glory 
for  which  they  strive. 

Charity  is  no  figurative  precept.  It  is  horrible  to  say  that 
Jesus  Christ,  who  came  to  take  away  the  figure  and  establish  the 
truth,  came  only  to  establish  the  type  of  charity  and  take  away 
the  existing  reality. 

If  the  light  be  darkness,  what  must  the  darkness  be  ? 

When  David  foretold  that  Messiah  would  deliver  his  people 
from  their  enemies,  we  may  believe  that  these  according  to  the 
flesh  were  the  Egyptians,  and  then  I  know  not  how  to  show  that 
the  prophecy  was  fulfilled.  But  we  may  well  believe  also  that  the 


WAS  FIGURATIVE. 


171 

enemies  were  their  sins,  for  in  truth  the  Egyptians  were  not 
their  enemies,  and  their  sins  were.  This  word  enemies  is  there¬ 
fore  equivocal. 

But  if  he  say,  as  in  fact  he  does  elsewhere,  that  he  will  save 
his  people  from  their  sins,  as  do  also  Isaiah  and  others,  the 
ambiguity  is  removed,  and  the  double  sense  of  enemies  is  reduced 
to  the  single  sense  of  iniquities.  For  if  he  had  sins  in  his  mind 
he  might  well  denote  them  by  the  word  enemies,  but  if  he 
thought  of  enemies,  he  could  not  designate  them  by  the  word 

iniquities. 

Now  Moses,  David,  and  Isaiah  employ  the  same  terms.  Who 
will  say  then  that  they  have  not  all  the  same  meaning,  and  that 
the  sense  of  David  which  is  plainly  that  of  iniquities  when  he 
spoke  of  enemies,  is  not  the  same  as  that  of  Moses  when 
speaking  of  enemies. 

Daniel  prays  that  the  people  may  be  delivered  from  the  cap¬ 
tivity  of  their  enemies,  but  he  was  thinking  of  sms,  and  to  show 
this,  he  says  that  Gabriel  came  to  tell  him  that  his  prayer  was 
heard,  and  that  there  were  only  seventy  weeks  to  wait,  after 
which  the  nation  would  be  delivered  from  iniquity,  that  sin 
would  have  an  end,  and  the  Redeemer,  the  Most  Holy,  should 
bring  in  eternal  righteousness,  not  legal,  but  eternal. 

The  Jews  had  a  doctrine  of  God  as  we  have  one  of  Jesus 
Christ,  and  confirmed  by  miracles  ;  they  were  forbidden  to 
believe  every  worker  of  miracles,  and  more,  they  were  ordered 
to  have  recourse  to  the  chief  priests,  on  whom  only  they  should 

rely. 

Thus,  in  regard  to  their  prophets,  they  had  all  those  reasons 
which  we  have  for  refusing  to  believe  the  workers  of  miracles. 

And  yet  they  were  very  blameworthy  in  refusing  the  prophets 
because  of  their  miracles,  and  had  not  been  blameworthy  had 
they  not  seen  the  miracles.  Nisifecissem ,  peccatum  non  haberent. 
Therefore  all  belief  rests  on  miracles. 

Whoever  estimates  the  Jewish  religion  by  its  coarser  minds 
will  know  it  but  ill.  It  is  to  be  seen  in  the  sacred  books,  and 
in  the  tradition  of  the  prophets,  who  have  made  it  plain  enough 


172 


THAT  THE  JEWISH  LAW 


that  they  did  not  understand  the  law  according  to  the  letter.  So 
our  Religion  is  divine  in  the  Gospel,  in  the  Apostles,  and  in 
tradition,  but  ridiculous  in  those  who  corrupt  it. 

The  Messiah,  according  to  the  carnal  Jews,  was  to  be  a 
mighty  temporal  prince.  Jesus  Christ,  according  to  carnal 
Christians,  has  come  to  dispense  us  from  the  love  of  God,  and 
to  give  us  sacraments  which  shall  operate  without  our  con¬ 
currence.  This  is  no  more  the  Christian  religion  than  was  the 
other  the  Jewish. 

True  Jews  and  true  Christians  have  always  expected  a 
Messiah  who  should  inspire  them  with  the  love  of  God,  and 
by  that  love  should  make  them  triumph  over  all  their  enemies. 

The  carnal  Jews  hold  a  midway  place  between  Christians  and 
Pagans.  The  Pagans  know  not  God,  and  love  this  world 
only.  The  Jews  know  the  true  God,  and  love  this  world  only. 
Christians  know  the  true  God,  and  love  not  the  world.  Jews 
and  Pagans  love  the  same  good.  Jews  and  Christians  know 
the  same  God. 

The  Jews  were  of  two  kinds,  one  having  merely  Pagan,  the 
other  having  Christian  affections. 

The  carnal  Jews  understood  neither  the  greatness  nor  the 
humiliation  of  Messiah  as  foretold  by  their  prophecies.  They 
misunderstood  him  in  his  foretold  greatness,  as  when  he  said  that 
Messiah  should  be  lord  of  David,  though  his  son,  and  that  he  was 
before  Abraham  who  yet  had  seen  him.  They  did  not  believe 
him  so  great  as  to  be  eternal,  and  so  too  they  misunderstood  him 
in  his  humiliation  and  in  his  death.  Messiah,  said  they,  abideth 
for  ever,  and  this  man  has  said  that  he  shall  die.  They  believed 
him  then  neither  mortal  nor  eternal,  and  they  only  looked  in 
him  for  a  carnal  greatness. 

Typical. — God  availed  himself  of  the  lust  of  the  Jews  to  make 
them  avail  for  Jesus  Christ. 

Typical. — Nothing  is  so  like  charity  as  covetousness,  and 
nothing  is  so  contrary  to  it.  Thus  the  Jews,  full  of  possessions 


WAS  FIGURATIVE. 


173 


which  flattered  their  covetousness,  were  very  like  Christians  and 
very  contrary.  And  by  this  means  they  had  the  two  qualities 
which  were  necessary  to  them,  to  be  very  like  the  Messiah  in 
order  to  be  figures  of  him,  and  very  contrary  that  they  might 
not  be  suspected  witnesses. 

Antiquity  of  the  Jews.- What  difference  there  is  between 
book  and  book.  I  am  not  surprised  that  the  Greeks  made  the 
Iliad,  nor  the  Egyptians  and  the  Chinese  their  histories. 

We  have  only  to  see  how  this  comes  about.  These  fabulous 
historians  are  not  contemporaneous  with  the  facts  they  narrate. 
Homer  writes  a  romance,  which  he  puts  forth  as  such,  and  which 
is  received  as  such,  for  no  one  supposed  that  Troy  or  Agamemnon 
existed  more  than  did  the  golden  apple.  So  he  thought  not  ot 
making  a  history,  but  solely  a  book  to  amuse  ;  he  is  the  only  man 
who  wrote  in  his  time,  the  beauty  of  his  work  has  made  it  last, 
every  one  learns  it  and  talks  of  it,  we  are  bound  to  know  it,  and 
we  each  get  it  by  heart.  Four  hundred  years  afterwards  the 
witnesses  of  these  things  are  no  more,  no  one  knows  of  his  own 
knowledge  if  it  be  fable  or  history  ;  he  has  only  learnt  it  from 
his  ancestors,  and  this  may  pass  foi  true. 

The  sincerity  of  the  fews. — They  preserve  with  faithfulness  and 
zeal  the  book  in  which  Moses  declares  that  they  have  been  all 
their  life  ungrateful  to  God,  and  that  he  knows  they  will  be  still 
more  so  after  his  death  ;  that  he  therefore  calls  heaven  and  earth 
to  witness  against  them,  and  that  he  has  taught  them  enough. 

He  declares  that  finally  God,  being  angry  with  them,  woulo 
scatter  them  among  all  the  nations  of  the  earth,  that  as  they 
have  angered  him,  in  worshipping  gods  who  were  not  their 
God  so  he  will  provoke  them  by  calling  a  people  which  is 
not  his  people,  and  wills  that  all  his  words  shall  be  eterna  ly 
preserved,  and  that  his  book  shall  be  placed  in  the  Ark  of  the 
Covenant  to  serve  for  ever  as  a  witness  against  them. 

Isaiah  says  the  same  thing,  xxx.  8. 

However,  they  have  kept  at  the  cost  of  their  life  this  very 
book  which  dishonours  them  in  so  many  ways.  This  is  a 


174  THAT  THE  JEWISH  LAW 

sincerity  which  has  no  example  in  the  world,  and  no  root  in 
nature. 

Every  history  which  is  not  contemporaneous  is  open  to  sus¬ 
picion,  thus  the  books  of  the  Sibyls  and  Trismegistus  and  so 
many  others  which  have  been  credited  by  the  world  are  false, 
and  found  to  be  false  in  course  of  time.  It  is  not  so  with  contem¬ 
poraneous  authors. 

There  is  a  great  difference  between  a  book  written  by  a  private 
man,  and  dispersed  among  a  whole  people,  and  a  book  which 
itself  creates  a  people.  We  cannot  doubt  that  the  book  is  as  old 
as  the  people. 

• 

The  sincerity  of  the  Jews. 

Defective  and  final  letters.  ' 

Sincere  against  their  honour,  and  dying  in  its  defence ;  this 
has  no  example  in  the  world’s  history,  and  no  root  in  nature. 

They  are  visibly  a  people  expressly  formed  to  serve  as 
witnesses  to  the  Messiah,  Isaiah  xliii.  9  ;  xliv.  8,  they  bear  the 
books,  and  love  them  while  they  understand  them  not.  And  all 
this  was  foretold,  that  God’s  judgments  might  be  entrusted  to 
them,  but  as  a  sealed  book. 

Types. — When  once  the  secret  is  disclosed  it  is  impossible 
not  to  see  it.  If  the  Old  Testament  be  read  in  this  light,  we 
shall  see  if  the  sacrifices  were  real ;  if  the  fatherhood  of 
Abraham  was  the  true  cause  of  the  friendship  of  God ;  that  the 
promised  land  was  not  the  true  place  of  rest.  These  were  then 
but  types.  If  in  the  same  way  we  examine  all  those  ordained 
ceremonies,  and  all  those  commandments  which  are  not  of 
charity,  we  shall  see  that  they  are  types. 

All  these  sacrifices  and  ceremonies  were  then  either  figures  or 
absurdities.  But  there  are  things  which  are  clear,  and  yet  too 
lofty  for  us  to  think  them  absurdities. 

Adam  forma  futuri.  Six  days  to  form  the  one,  six  ages 
to  form  the  other.  The  six  days  w'hich  Moses  represents  for  the 


WAS  FIGURATIVE. 


175 


formation  of  Adam,  are  but  the  representation  of  the  six  ages  to 
form  Jesus  Christ  and  the  Church.  If  Adam  had  not  sinned, 
and  Jesus  Christ  had  not  come,  there  had  been  only  one  covenant, 
only  one  age  of  men,  and  the  creation  would  have  been  repre¬ 
sented  as  done  at  one  single  time. 

The  six  ages,  the  six  Fathers  of  the  six  ages,  the  six  miracles 
at  the  opening  of  the  six  ages,  the  six  mornings  at  the  opening 
of  the  six  ages. 

Types. — The  Jewish  and  Egyptian  peoples  were  visibly  fore¬ 
told  by  the  two  men  whom  Moses  met,  the  Egyptian  beating 
the  Jew,  Moses  avenging  him  and  slaying  the  Egyptian  while 
the  Jew  was  ungrateful. 

The  conversion  of  the  Egyptians,  Isaiah  xix.  19.  An  altar  in 
Egypt  to  the  true  God. 

The  sabbath  was  only  a  sign,  Exodus  xxxi.  13,  and  in  memory 
of  the  deliverance  from  Egypt.  Deut.  v.  19.  Therefore  it  is  no 
more  necessary,  for  we  ought  to  forget  Egypt. 

Circumcision  was  only  a  sign,  Gen.  xvii.  11,  therefore  it  came 
to  pass  that  in  the  desert  they  were  not  circumcised,  because  they 
could  not  be  confounded  with  other  peoples,  and  after  Jesus 
Christ  came  it  was  no  longer  needful. 

Those  who  ordained  these  sacrifices  knew  their  uselessness, 
and  those  who  have  declared  their  uselessness,  ceased  not  to 
practise  them. 

Your  name  shall  be  accursed  to  my  elect,  and  I  will  give 
them  another  name. 

Harden  their  heart.  How  ?  By  flattering  their  lust,  and 
making  them  hope  to  accomplish  it. 

Fac  secundum  exemplar  quod  tibi  ostensum  est  in  monte. 

The  Jewish  religion  then  was  formed  on  its  likeness  to  the 


i76  THAT  THE  JEWISH  LAW 

truth  of  the  Messiah,  and  the  truth  of  the  Messiah  was  recognised 
by  the  religion  of  the  Jews  which  was  the  figure  of  it. 

Among  the  Jews  the  truth  was  only  prefigured.  In  heaven  it 

is  revealed. 

In  the  Church  it  is  hidden,  yet  recognised  by  its  corre¬ 
spondence  with  the  type. 

The  type  was  made  according  to  the  truth,  and  the  truth  is 

recognised  according  to  the  type. 

Saint  Paul  says  himself  that  people  would  forbid  to  marry, 
and  he  himself  speaks  to  the  Corinthians,  in  a  way  which  is  a 
trap.  For  if  a  prophet  had  said  the  one,  and  Saint  Paul  had 
afterwards  said  the  other,  he  would  have  been  accused. 

Typical. — Make  all  things  like  unto  the  pattern  which  was 
showed  thee  in  the  mount.  On  which  Saint  Paul  says  that  the 
Jews  shadowed  forth  heavenly  things. 

Typical.  The  key  of  the  cipher.  Veri  adoratores.  Ecce 
agnus  Dei  qui  tollit  pcccata  viundi. 

That  the  law  was  typical.  Types. — The  letter  kills.  All 
happened  in  a  figure.  This  is  the  cipher  which  Saint  Paul  gives 
us.  Christ  must  suffer.  An  humiliated  God.  Circumcision  of 
the  heart,  a  true  fast,  a  true  sacrifice,  a  true  temple.  The 
prophets  indicated  that  all  these  must  be  spiritual. 

Not  the  meat  which  perishes,  but  that  which  perishes  not. 

You  shall  be  free  indeed.  Then  the  former  liberty  was  only  a 

type  of  liberty. 

I  am  the  true  bread  from  heaven. 

Particular  types. — A  double  law,  double  tables  of  the  law,  a 
double  temple,  a  double  captivity. 

I'he  Synagogue  did  not  perish  because  it  was  a  type,  but 
because  it  was  no  more  than  a  type  it  fell  into  servitude.  The 
type  subsisted  till  the  reality  came,  in  order  that  the  Church 


WAS  FIGURATIVE. 


177 


should  be  always  visible,  either  in  the  representation  which 
promised  it,  or  in  the  substance. 

In  the  time  of  the  Messiah  the  people  were  divided.  Those 
that  were  spiritual  embraced  the  Messiah,  the  carnal  remained 
to  serve  as  witnesses  of  him. 


N 


OF  THE  TRUE  RELIGION  AND  ITS 
CHAR  A  CTERIS  TICS. 


For  Port  Royal.  The  Beginning ,  after  having  explained  the 
incomprehensibility . — Since  the  greatness  and  the  vileness  of 
man  are  so  evident,  it  is  necessary  that  the  true  religion  should 
declare  both  that  there  is  in  man  some  great  principle  of  greatness, 
and  a  great  principle  of  vileness. 

It  must  therefore  explain  these  astonishing  contradictions. 

In  order  to  make  man  happy,  it  must  show  him  that  there  is 
a  God;  that  we  ought  to  love  him  ;  that  our  true  happiness  is 
to  be  in  him,  our  sole  evil  to  be  separated  from  him  ;  it  must 
recognise  that  we  are  full  of  darkness  which  hinders  us  from 
knowing  and  loving  him  ;  and  that  thus,  as  our  duties  oblige 
us  to  love  God,  and  our  lusts  turn  us  from  him,  we  are  full  of 
injustice.  It  must  explain  to  us  our  opposition  to  God  and  to 
our  own  good  ;  it  must  teach  us  the  remedies  for  these  infirmities, 
and  the  means  of  obtaining  them.  We  must  therefore  examine  all 
the  religions  of  the  world  from  this  point  of  view,  and  see  if  there 
be  any  other  than  the  Christian  which  is  sufficient  for  this  end. 

Shall  it  be  that  of  the  philosophers,  who  proposed  as  the  only 
good  the  good  which  is  in  ourselves  ?  Is  this  the  true  good  ? 
Have  they  found  a  remedy  for  our  evils?  Is  the  pride  of  man 
cured  by  equalling  him  with  God  ?  Have  those  who  would  level 
us  to  the  brutes,  or  the  Mahomedans  who  present  us  with 
pleasures  of  the  world  as  the  sole  good,  even  in  eternity,  found 
any  remedy  for  our  lusts  ?  What  religion  then  will  teach  us  to 
cure  our  pride  and  our  lust  ?  What  religion  will  teach  us  our 
good,  our  duty,  the  infirmity  which  turns  us  from  it,  the  cause  of 


i So  OF  THE  TRUE  RELIGION  AND 

this  infirmity,  the  remedies  which  can  cure  it,  and  the  means  of 
obtaining  those  remedies  ?  All  other  religions  have  failed,  let  us 

see  what  the  wisdom  of  God  can  do. 

“  Look  neither  for  truth,”  she  says,  “  nor  consolation  from  men. 

I  am  she  who  framed  you,  and  who  alone  can  teach  you  what 
you  are.  But  you  are  not  now  in  the  state  in  which  I  framed 
you.  I  created  man  holy,  innocent,  perfect ;  I  filled  him  with 
light  and  intelligence  ;  I  communicated  to  him  my  glory  and  my 
wondrous  acts.  The  eye  of  man  beheld  then  the  majesty  ot 
God  ;  he  was  not  then  in  the  darkness  which  blinds  him,  nor 
subject  to  death  and  the  miseries  which  afflict  him.  .  But  he 
could  not  bear  so  great  a  glory  without  falling  into  pride.  He 
would  make  himself  his  own  centre,  and  independent  of  my  aid. 
He  withdrew  himself  from  my  rule  ;  and  when  he  made  himself 
equal  to  me  by  the  desire  of  finding  his  happiness  m  himself,  I 
gave  him  over  to  self.  Then  setting  in  revolt  the  creatures  that 
were  subject  to  him,  I  made  them  his  enemies  ;  so  that  man  is 
now  become  like  the  beasts,  and  removed  from  me  until 
there  scarce  remains  to  him  a  confused  ray  of  his  Creator,  so 
far  has  all  his  knowledge  become  extinguished  or  disturbed. 
His  senses,  never  the  servants,  and  often  the  masters  of  reason, 
have  carried  him  astray  in  pursuit  of  pleasure.  All  creatures 
either  torment  or  tempt  him  ;  and  have  dominion  over  him, 
either  as  they  subdue  him  by  their  strength,  or  as  they  melt  him 
by  their  charms,  a  tyranny  more  terrible  and  more  imperious. 

“  Such  is  the  present  state  of  man.  There  remains  to  him  some 
feeble  instinct  of  the  happiness  of  his  primitive  nature,  and  he  is 
plunged  in  the  misery  of  his  blindness  and  his  lusts,  which 

have  become  his  second  nature. 

“  From  this  principle  which  I  have  here  laid  open  to  you, 
you  may  discern  the  cause  of  those  contradictions  which,  while 
they  astonish  all  men,  have  divided  them  among  such  various 
opinions.  Now  mark  all  the  movements  of  greatness  and 
crlory  which  the  trials  of  so  many  miseries  are  unable  to 
stifle,  and  see  if  the  cause  of  them  must  not  be  in  another 

For  Port  Royal  to-morrow .  Prosopopcea—“  It  is  in  vain,  O 
men,  that  you  seek  from  yourselves  the  remedy  for  your  miseries. 


ITS  CHARACTERISTICS. 


1 8 1 

All  your  light  can  only  enable  you  to  know  that  not  in  your¬ 
selves  will  you  find  truth  or  good.  The  Philosophers  promised 
you  these,  but  gave  them  not.  They  neither  apprehend  what  is 
your  true  good  nor  what  is  .  .  . 

“  How  could  they  then  apply  remedies  to  your  diseases,  since 
they  did  not  even  know  them?  Your  chief  maladies  are  pride, 
which  alienates  you  from  God,  and  lust,  which  binds  you  down 
to  earth  ;  and  they  do  nought  else  but  nourish  one  or  the  other 
of  these  disorders.  If  they  presented  God  as  your  end  it  was 
only  done  to  gratify  your  pride ;  by  making  you  think  that  you 
are  by  nature  like  him  and  conformed  to  him.  Those  who  saw  the 
extravagance  of  such  an  assertion  did  but  set  you  on  an  opposite 
precipice,  by  tempting  you  to  believe  that  your  nature  was  of  a 
piece  with  that  of  the  beasts,  and  by  inclining  you  to  seek  your 
good  in  the  lusts  which  are  shared  by  brutes.  This  is  not  the 
way  to  cure  you  of  your  unrighteousness,  which  these  sages  never 
knew.  I  alone  can  teach  you  who  you  are  .  .  . 

“  If  you  are  united  to  God  it  is  by  grace,  not  by  nature. 

“  If  you  are  abased  it  is  by  penitence,  not  by  nature.  So  this 
twofold  capacity  .  .  . 

a  You  are  not  in  the  state  wherein  you  were  created. 

“  These  two  states  being  presented  to  you,  you  cannot  but 
recognise  them. 

“  Follow  your  own  movements,  observe  yourselves,  and  see  if 
you  do  not  trace  the  lively  characters  of  these  two  natures. 

“  Could  so  many  contradictions  be  found  in  a  subject  that  was 
simple  ?  ” 


I  do  not  mean  that  you  should  submit  your  belief  to  me  with¬ 
out  reason,  neither  do  I  aim  at  your  subjection  by  tyranny.  I  do 
not  aim  at  giving  you  a  reason  for  everything.  And  to  reconcile 
these  contradictions,  I  wish  to  make  you  see  by  convincing  proofs, 
those  divine  tokens  in  me,  which  will  assure  you  who  I  am  and 
will  verify  my  authority  by  wonders  and  proofs  which  you  can¬ 
not  reject ;  so  that  you  may  then  have  a  reasonable  belief  in 
what  I  teach  you,  when  you  find  no  other  ground  for  refusing  it, 
but  that  you  cannot  know  of  yourselves  whether  it  is  true  or  not. 


i82 


OF  THE  TRUE  RELIGION, \ 


The  true  nature  of  man,  his  true  good,  true  virtue  and  true 
religion  are  things  of  which  the  knowledge  is  inseparable. 

After  having  understood  the  whole  nature  of  inaji. — That  a 
religion  may  be  true,  it  must  show  knowledge  of  our  nature.  It 
must  know  its  greatness  and  meanness,  and  the  cause  of  both. 
What  religion  but  the  Christian  has  shown  this  knowledge  ? 

The  true  religion  teaches  our  duties  ;  our  weaknesses,  pride 
and  lust ;  and  the  remedies,  humility  and  mortification. 

The  true  religion  must  teach  greatness  and  misery  ;  must  lead 
to  the  esteem  and  despising  of  self ;  to  love  and  to  hate. 

The  note  of  true  religion  must  be  that  it  obliges  man  to  love 
his  God.  This  is  very  right?  and  yet  no  other  religion  than  ours 
has  thus  commanded  ;  ours  has  done  so.  It  must  also  be  cognizant 
of  man’s  lust  and  weakness,  ours  is  so.  It  must  have  applied 
remedies  for  these  defects  ;  one  is  prayer.  No  other  religion 
has  asked  of  God  the  power  to  love  and  obey  him. 

If  there  be  one  only  origin  of  all  things,  there  must  be  one 
only  end  of  all  things  ;  all  by  him,  all  for  him.  The  true  religion 
then  must  teach  us  to  adore  him  only,  and  to  love  him  only. 
But  since  we  find  ourselves  unable  to  adore  what  we  know  not, 
or  to  love  aught  but  ourselves,  the  same  religion  which  instructs 
us  in  these  duties  must  instruct  us  also  of  this  inability,  and 
teach  us  also  the  remedies  for  it.  It  teaches  us  that  by  one  man 
all  was  lost,  and  the  bond  broken  between  God  and  us,  and  that 
by  one  man  the  bond  has  been  repaired. 

We  are  born  so  contrary  to  this  love  of  God,  and  it  is  so 
necessary  that  we  must  be  born  sinful,  or  God  would  be  unjust. 

Every  religion  is  false  which  as  to  its  faith  docs  not  adore  one 
God  as  origin  of  all  things,  and  as  to  its  morals  does  not 
love  one  sole  God  as  the  object  of  all  things. 

In  every  religion  we  must  be  sincere,  true  heathens,  true  Jews, 
true  Christians. 


THE  EXCELLENCE  OF  THE  CHRLSTLAN 

RELIGION. 


When  I  see  the  blindness  and  the  misery  of  man,  when  I 
survey  the  whole  dumb  Universe,  and  man  without  light,  left 
to  himself,  and  lost,  as  it  were,  in  this  corner  of  the  Universe, 
not  knowing  who  has  placed  him  here,  what  he  has  come  to  do, 
what  will  become  of  him  when  he  dies,  and  incapable  of  any 
knowledge  whatever,  I  fall  into  terror  like  that  of  a  man  who, 
having  been  carried  in  his  sleep  to  an  island  desert  and  terrible, 
should  awake  ignorant  of  his  whereabouts  and  with  no  means  of 
escape;  and  thereupon  I  wonder  how  those  in  so  miserable  a 
state  do  not  fall  into  despair.  I  see  other  persons  around  me, 
of  like  nature,  I  ask  them  if  they  are  better  informed  than 
I  am,  and  they  say  they  are  not ;  and  thereupon  these  mise¬ 
rable  wanderers,  having  looked  around  them,  and  seen  some 
objects  pleasing  to  them,  have  given  and  attached  themselves 
to  these.  As  for  me,  I  cannot  attach  myself  to  them,  and  con¬ 
sidering  how  strongly  appearances  show  that  there  is  something 
else  than  what  is  visible  to  me,  I  have  sought  to  discover  whether 
this  God  have  not  left  some  impress  of  himself. 

I  see  many  contrary  religions,  and  consequently  all  false 
but  one.  Each  wishes  to  be  believed  on  its  own  authority, 
and  menaces  the  unbeliever,  but  I  do  not  therefore  believe  them. 
Every  one  can  say  the  same,  and  every  one  can  call  himself  a 
prophet.  But  I  see  the  Christian  religion  fulfilling  prophecy, 
and  that  is  what  every  one  can  not  do. 

Without  this  divine  knowledge  what  could  men  do  but  either 
uplift  themselves  by  that  inward  conviction  of  their  past  greatness 
still  remaining  to  them,  or  be  cast  down  in  view  of  their  present 
infirmity?  For,  not  seeing  the  whole  truth,  they  could  not  attain 


184 


THE  EXCELLENCE  OF 


to  perfect  virtue.  Some  considering  nature  as  incorrupt,  others 
as  incurable,  they  could  not  escape  either  pride  or  idleness,  the 
two  sources  of  all  vice  ;  since  they  cannot  but  either  abandon 
themselves  to  it  by  cowardice,  or  escape  it  by  pride.  For  if 
they  were  aware  of  the  excellency  of  man,  they  were  ignorant  of 
his  corruption,  so  that  they  very  easily  avoided  idleness,  but 
only  to  fall  into  pride.  And  if  they  recognized  the  infirmity  of 
nature,  they  knew  not  its  dignity,  so  that  though  they  might 
easily  avoid  presumption,  it  was  only  to  plunge  into  despair. 

Thence  come  the  various  sects  of  the  Stoics  and  Epicureans, 
the  Dogmatists,  Academicians,  etc.  The  Christian  religion 
alone  has  been  able  to  cure  these  two  distempers,  not  so  as  to 
drive  out  the  one  by  the  other  according  to  the  wisdom  of  the 
world,  but  so  as  to  expel  them  both  by  the  simplicity  of  the 
Gospel.  For  it  teaches  the  righteous  that  it  lifts  them  even  to  a 
participation  of  the  divine  nature ;  that  in  this  exalted  state  they 
still  bear  within  them  the  fountain  of  all  corruption,  which 
renders  them  during  their  whole  life  subject  to  error  and  misery, 
to  death  and  sin  ;  and  at  the  same  time  it  proclaims  to  the  most 
wicked  that  they  can  receive  the  grace  of  their  Redeemer.  Thus 
making  those  tremble  whom  it  justifies,  and  consoling  those 
whom  it  condemns,  religion  so  justly  tempers  fear  with  hope  by 
means  of  that  double  capacity  of  grace  and  of  sin  which  is 
common  to  all,  that  it  abases  infinitely  more  than  reason  alone, 
yet  without  despair  ;  and  exalts  infinitely  higher  than  natural 
pride,  yet  -without  puffing  up  :  hereby  proving  that  alone  being 
exempt  from  error  and  vice,  it  alone  has  the  office  of  instructing 
and  of  reforming  men. 

Who  then  can  withhold  credence  and  adoration  to  so  divine 
a  light  ?  F or  it  is  clearer  than  day  that  we  feel  within  ourselves 
indelible  characters  of  goodness  ;  and  it  is  equally  true  that  we 
experience  every  hour  the  effects  of  our  deplorable  condition. 
This  chaos  then,  this  monstrous  confusion,  does  but  proclaim  the 
•truth  of  these  two  states,  with  a  voice  so  powerful  that  it  cannot 
be  resisted. 

The  Philosophers  never  prescribed  feelings  proper  to  these  two 
states. 


THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION. 


185 

They  inspired  motions  of  simple  greatness,  and  that  is  not  the 
state  of  man. 

They  inspired  motions  of  simple  vileness,  and  that  is  not  the 
state  of  man. 

There  must  be  motions  of  abasement,  yet  not  from  nature,  but 
from  penitence,  not  to  rest  in  them,  but  to  go  onward  to  great¬ 
ness.  There  must  be  motions  of  greatness,  not  from  merit,  but 
from  grace,  and  after  having  passed  through  abasement. 

This  double  nature  of  man  is  so  evident,  that  there  are  those 
who  have  imagined  us  to  have  two  souls. 

One  single  subject  seemed  to  them  incapable  of  so  great  and 
'sudden  variations  from  unmeasured  pride  to  an  horrible  dejec¬ 
tion  of  spirit. 

All  these  contradictions  which  seemed  to  have  taken  me 
further  from  the  knowledge  of  religion,  are  what  most  rapidly 
led  me  into  truth. 

Did  we  not  know  ourselves  full  of  pride,  ambition,  lust,  weak¬ 
ness,  misery  and  injustice,  we  were  indeed  blind.  And  if 
knowing  this  we  did  not  desire  deliverance,  what  could  be  said  of 
a  man  .  .  .  What  then  can  we  feel  but  esteem  for  that  Religion 
which  is  so  well  acquainted  with  the  defects  of  man,  and  desire 
for  the  truth  of  a  religion  which  promises  remedies  so  precious. 

The  corruption  of  reason  is  shown  by  the  number  of  differing 
and  extravagant  customs  ;  it  was  necessary  that  truth  should 
come  in  order  that  man  should  no  longer  live  in  himself. 

Incomprehensible. — Not  all  that  is  incomprehensible  is  there¬ 
fore  non  existent.  Infinite  number.  An  infinite  space  equal  to 
a  finite. 

It  is  incredible  that  God  should  unite  himself  to  us. — This 
consideration  is  drawn  only  from  the  view  of  our  vileness.  But 
if  it  be  sincere,  follow  it  as  far  as  I  have  done,  and  recognise  that 
we  are  in  fact  so  vile  as  to  make  us  by  ourselves  incapable  of 
knowing  whether  his  mercy  may  not  render  us  capable  of  him. 


THE  EXCELLENCE  OF 


1 86 

For  I  would  know  how  this  animal,  who  is  aware  of  his  weakness, 
has  the  right  to  measure  the  mercy  of  God  and  set  to  it  bounds 
suggested  by  his  fancy.  He  knows  so  little  what  God  is  that  he 
does  not  even  know  what  himself  is,  and  troubled  with  the 
view  of  his  own  state,  boldly  declares  that  God  cannot  render 
man  capable  of  communion  with  him. 

But  I  would  ask  if  God  demands  aught  else  from  him  than 
to  know  him  and  to  love  him,  and  why,  since  man  is  by  nature 
capable  of  love  and  knowledge,  he  believes  that  God  cannot  make 
himself  known  and  loved  by  him.  He  certainly  knows  at  least 
that  he  is,  and  that  he  loves  something.  Therefore  if  he  see 
anything  in  his  darkness,  and  if  among  the  things  of  earth  he 
find  any  subject  of  his  love,  why,  if  God  impart  to  him  some  ray 
of  his  essence,  should  he  not  be  capable  of  knowing  and  of  loving 
him  in  the  manner  in  which  it  shall  please  him  to  communicate 
himself  to  us  ?  There  must  be  then  an  intolerable  arrogance 
in  these  sort  of  arguments,  though  they  seem  founded  on  apparent 
humility,  which  is  neither  sincere  nor  reasonable,  unless  it  makes 
us  confess  that  not  knowing  of  ourselves  what  we  are,  we  can 
learn  it  from  God  alone. 

For  myself,  I  declare  that  so  soon  as  the  Christian  religion 
reveals  the  principle  that  human  nature  is  corrupt  and  fallen 
from  God,  my  eyes  are  opened  to  see  everywhere  the  characters 
of  this  truth  :  for  nature  is  such  that  she  everywhere  indicates, 
both  within  man  and  without  him,  a  God  whom  he  has  lost  and 
a  corrupt  nature.' 

Whatever  may  be  said,  it  must  be  conceded  that  the  Christian 
religion  has  something  astonishing  in  it.  Perhaps  someone  will 
say  :  “This  is  because  you  were  born  in  it.”  It  may  be  :  then  I 
stiffen  myself  against  it  by  this  very  reason,  for  fear  this  prejudice 
should  bias  me ;  but  although  I  am  born  in  it  I  cannot  but 
find  it  so. 

The  whole  course  of  things  must  have  for  its  object  the 
establishment  and  the  grandeur  of  Religion  :  that  there  should 
be  implanted  in  men  sentiments  conformable  to  its  precepts, 


THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 


1 87 


and  in  a  word,  that  it  should  be  so  completely  the  aim 
and  the  centre  to  which  all  things  tend,  that  whoever  under¬ 
stands  its  principles  can  give  an  explanation  as  of  human 
nature  in  particular,  so  in  general  of  the  whole  order  of  the 
world. 

Our  religion  is  wise  and  foolish.  Wise,  because  it  is  the  most 
learned,  and  the  most  founded  on  miracles,  prophecies,  etc. 
Foolish,  because  it  is  not  all  this  which  causes  us  to  belong  to 
it ;  this  makes  us  indeed  condemn  those  who  are  not  of  it,  but 
is  not  the  cause  of  belief  in  those  who  are.  It  is  the  cross  that 
makes  them  believe,  ne  evacuata  sit  crux.  And  thus  Saint 
Paul,  who  came  with  wisdom  and  signs,  says  that  he  came  neither 
with  wisdom  nor  with  signs,  for  he  came  to  convert.  But  those 
who  come  only  to  convince  may  say  that  they  come  with  wisdom 
and  with  signs. 

That  religion,  great  as  she  is  in  miracles,  with  holy  and  blame¬ 
less  Fathers,  learned  and  great  witnesses,  with  martyrs  and 
kings,  as  David,  and  Isaiah,  a  prince  of  the  blood  ;  great  as 
she  is  in  science,  after  having  displayed  all  her  miracles  and  all 
her  wisdom,  rejects  it  all,  and  says  she  has  neither  wisdom  nor 
signs,  but  only  the  cross  and  foolishness. 

For  those,  who  by  these  signs  and  that  wisdom  have  deserved 
your  belief,  and  who  have  proved  to  you  their  character,  declare 
to  you  that  nothing  of  all  this  can  change  you,  and  render  you 
capable  of  knowing  and  loving  God,  but  the  power  of  the  foolish¬ 
ness  of  the  cross  without  wisdom  and  signs,  and  not  the  signs 
without  this  power.  Thus  our  Religion  is  foolish  when  we  con¬ 
sider  the  effective  cause,  wise  when  we  consider  the  wisdom 
which  has  prepared  it. 

How  strange  is  Christianity  !  It  enjoins  man  to  acknowledge 
himself  vile,  even  abominable,  and  enjoins  him  to  aspire  to  be 
like  God.  Without  such  a  counterpoise,  this  elevation  would 
make  him  horribly  vain,  or  that  vileness  would  make  him  terribly 
abject. 

Misery  counsels  despair,  pride  counsels  presumption. 


THE  EXCELLENCE  OF 


1 88 

The  incarnation  shows  man  the  greatness  of  his  misery  by  the 
greatness  of  the  remedy  of  which  he  stood  in  need. 

Not  a  vileness  such  as  renders  us  incapable  of  good,  nor  a 
holiness  exempt  from  evil. 

N o  doctrine  is  more  suited  to  man  than  this  ;  for  it  teaches  him 
his  double  capacity  of  receiving  and  losing  grace,  because  of  the 
double  peril  to  which  he  is  always  exposed,  of  despair  and  of 
pride. 

No  other  religion  has  enjoined  hate  of  self.  No  othei  religion 
then  can  be  pleasing  to  those  who  hate  themselves,  and  who 
seek  a  Being  wholly  to  be  loved.  And  these,  if  they  had  nevei 
heard  of  the  religion  of  an  humiliated  God,  would  embrace  it 

at  once. 

No  other  has  recognised  that  man  is  of  all  creatures  the  most 
excellent.  Some,  having  apprehended  the  reality  of  his  excel¬ 
lence,  have  blamed  as  mean  and  ungrateful  the  low  opinion 
which  men  naturally  have  of  themselves,  and  others,  well  aware 
how  real  is  this  vileness,  have  treated  with  haughty  ridicule 
those  sentiments  of  greatness  which  are  no  less  natural  to 
man. 

“  Lift  your  eyes  to  God,”  say  these, <e  see  him  in  whose  image 
you  are,  who  has  made  you  to  worship  him.  You  can  make  your¬ 
selves  like  unto  him  ;  wisdom  will  equal  you  to  him  if  you  will 
follow  it.”  But  others  say  :  “  Bend  your  eyes  to  the  earth,  poor 
worm  that  you  are,  and  look  upon  the  brutes  your  comrades. 
What  then  will  man  become?  Will  he  equal  God  or  the 
brutes?  What  an  awful  gulf !  What  then  shall  we  be?  Who 
does  not  see  from  all  this  that  man  has  gone  astray,  that  he  has 
fallen  from  his  place,  that  he  seeks  it  with  disquiet,  that  he 
cannot  regain  it  ?  And  who  shall  direct  him,  since  the  greatest 
men  have  not  availed  ? 

What  men  could  scarcely  know  by  their  greatest  light,  this 
Religion  has  taught  to  babes. 

Other  religions,  as  those  of  heathendom,  are  more  popular 


THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION. 


189 


since  they  consist  only  in  externals,  but  they  have  no  effect  on 
the  educated.  A  purely  intellectual  religion  would  be  more 
adapted  to  the  educated,  but  it  would  be  of  no  use  to  the  people. 
The  Christian  religion  alone  is  fitted  for  all,  being  composed  of 
externals  and  internals.  It  elevates  the  people  to  inteiior  acts, 
it  abases  the  proud  to  external  rites,  and  it  is  not  complete  with¬ 
out  both,  for  the  people  must  understand  the  spirit  which  is  in 
the  letter,  and  the  educated  must  submit  their  spirit  to  the 
letter. 

Philosophers  have  consecrated  vices  in  attiibuting  them  to 
God  himself,  Christians  have  consecrated  virtues. 


. 


OF  ORIGINAL  SIN 


There  are  two  truths  of  faith  equally  sure  :  the  one,  that  man 
in  the  state  of  creation,  or  in  that  of  grace,  is  raised  above  all 
nature,  is  made  like  unto  God  and  is  a  sharer  in  divinity;  the 
other,  that  in  the  state  of  corruption  and  sin,  he  has  fallen  from 
the  higher  state  and  is  made  like  unto  the  beasts.  These  two 
propositions  are  equally  firm  and  certain.  The  Scripture  de¬ 
clares  it  plainly,  as  when  it  says  in  certain  places  :  Delicice  mece , 
esse  cum  filiis  hominum .  Effundam  spiritual  nieum  super 
omnem  carnem.  Dii  estis,  etc.;  and  when  it  says  in  others  : 
Omnis  caro  fcenum.  Homo  comparatus  est  jumentis  insipien - 
tibus ,  et  similis  factus  est  illis.  Dixi  in  corde  meo  de  filiis 
hominum ,  ut  probaret  eos  Deus  et  ostenderet  similes  esse 
best  ids,  etc. 

The  wicked,  who  abandon  themselves  blindly  to  their  passions, 
without  the  knowledge  of  God,  and  without  taking  the  trouble  to 
seek  him,  themselves  confirm  this  foundation  of  the  faith  which 
they  attack,  that  the  nature  of  man  is  corrupt.  And  the  Jews, 
who  so  obstinately  assail  the  Christian  religion,  again  confirm  that 
other  foundation  of  the  same  faith  which  they  assail,  namely, 
that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  true  Messiah,  who  has  come  to  redeem 
men,  and  deliver  them  from  the  corruption  and  misery  in  which 
they  were,  as  much  by  the  condition  in  which  we  see  them  at 
this  day,  and  which  was  foretold  by  the  prophets,  as  by  these 
same  prophecies  which  they  possess  and  keep  so  inviolably  as 
the  tokens  whereby  the  Messiah  is  to’be  recognised. 

I  would  ask  them  if  it  is  not  true  that  they  themselves  confirm 


OF  ORIGINAL  SIN. 


192 

this  foundation  of  the  faith  they  assail,  which  is  that  the  nature 
of  man  is  corrupt. 

Marton  secs  indeed  that  nature  is  corrupt,  and  that  men  are 
opposed  to  honourable  conduct,  but  he  knows  not  why  they 
cannot  fly  higher. 

The  meaning  of  the  words  good  and  evil. 

Original  sin  is  foolishness  to  men,  but  it  is  admitted  to  be  so. 
This  doctrine  must  not  then  be  reproached  with  want  of  reason, 
since  I  admit  that  it  has  no  reason.  But  this  foolishness  is  wiser 
than  all  the  wisdom  of  men,  sapienlius  est  hominibus.  For 
without  this  how  can  we  say  what  man  is  ?  His  whole  state 
depends  on  this  imperceptible  point,  and  how  should  it  be  per¬ 
ceived  by  his  reason,  since  it  is  a  thing  against  reason,  and  since 
reason,  far  from  finding  it  out  by  her  own  ways,  revolts  from 
it  when  it  is  offered  her  ? 

There  is  nothing  on  earth  which  does  not  show  either  human 
misery  or  divine  mercy  ;  either  the  weakness  of  man  without  God, 
or  the  power  of  man  with  God. 

Thus  the  whole  universe  teaches  man,  either  that  he  is 
corrupt,  or  that  he  is  redeemed  ;  every  thing  teaches  him  his 
greatness  or  his  misery ;  the  abandonment  by  God  is  shown  in 
the  heathen,  the  protection  of  God  is  shown  in  the  Jews. 

Nature  has  her  perfections  to  show  that  she  is  the  image  of 
God,  and  her  defects  to  show  that  she  is  no  more  than  his 
image. 

Men  being  unaccustomed  to  form  merit,  but  only  to  recom¬ 
pense  it  'when  they  find  it  formed,  judge  of  God  by  themselves. 

When  we  wish  to  think  of  God,  there  is  a  something  which 
turns  us  aside,  and  tempts  us  to  think  on  other  subjects  ;  all  this 
is  evil  and  born  with  us. 

Lust  has  become  natural  to  us,  and  has  made  our  second 


OF  ORIGINAL  SIN. 


193 


nature.  Thus  there  are  two  natures  in  us,  one  good,  the  other 
evil.— Where  is  God?  Where  you  are  not,  and  the  kingdom  of 
God  is  within  you. —  The  Rabbis. 

It  is  then  true  that  everything  instructs  man  concerning  his 
condition,  but  the  statement  must  be  clearly  understood,  for  it  is 
not  true  that  all  reveals  God,  and  it  is  not  true  that  all  hides 
him.  But  it  is  true  both  that  he  hides  himself  from  those  who 
tempt  him,  and  that  he  reveals  himself  to  those  who  seek  him, 
because  men  are  both  unworthy  and  capable  of  God  ;  unworthy 
by  their  corruption,  capable  by  their  original  nature. 

^  e  cannot  conceive  the  glorious  state  of  Adam,  nor  the  nature 
of  his  sin,  nor  the  transmission  of  it  to  us.  These  things  took 
place  under  the  conditions  of  a  nature  quite  different  to  our  own, 
transcending  our  present  capacity. 

The  knowledge  of  all  this  would  be  of  no  use  in  helping  us  to 
escape  from  it,  and  all  we  need  know  is  that  we  are  miserable, 
corrupt,  separate  from  God,  but  ransomed  by  Jesus  Christ,  and 
of  this  we  have  on  earth  wonderful  proofs. 

Thus  the  two  proofs  of  corruption  and  redemption,  are  drawn 
from  the  wicked,  who  live  indifferent  to  religion,  and  from  the 
Jews  who  are  its  irreconcilable  enemies. 

All  faith  consists  in  Jesus  Christ  and  in  Adam,  and  all  morality 
in  lust  and  in  grace. 

Shall  he  only  who  knows  his  nature  know  it  only  to  his 
misery  ?  Shall  he  alone  who  knows  it  be  alone  miserable  ? 

He  must  not  see  nothing  whatever,  nor  must  he  see  so  much 
as  to  believe  he  possesses  it,  but  he  must  see  enough  to  know 
that  he  has  lost  it ;  for  to  be  aware  of  loss  he  must  see  and  not 
see,  and  that  is  precisely  the  state  in  which  he  is  by  nature. 

We  wish  for  truth,  and  find  in  ourselves  only  uncertainty. 

We  seek  after  happiness,  and  find  only  misery  and  death. 

We  cannot  but  wish  for  truth  and  happiness,  and  we  are 
incapable  neither  of  certainty  nor  of  happiness.  This  desire  is 

O 


I94  OF  ORIGINAL  SIN. 

left  to  us,  as  much  to  punish  us  as  to  make  us  feel  whence  we 
are  drawn. 

Will  it  be  asserted  that  because  men  have  spoken  of  righteous¬ 
ness  as  having  fled  from  the  earth,  therefore  they  knew  of 
original  sin  ? — Nemo  ante  obituin  beatus  est. — That  therefore 
they  knew  death  to  be  the  beginning  of  eternal  and  essential 
happiness  ? 

The  dignity  of  man  while  innocent  consisted  in  using  and 
having  dominion  over  the  creatures,  but  now  in  separating  him¬ 
self  from  them,  and  subjecting  himself  to  them. 

Source  of  contradictions. — A  God  humbled,  even  to  the  death 
of  the  cross,  a  Messiah  by  his  death  triumphing  over  death. 
Two  natures  in  Jesus  Christ,  two  advents,  two  states  of  human 
nature. 


Of  original  sin.— Ample  tradition  of  original  sin  according  to 
the  fews. 

On  the  word  in  Genesis,  viii.  21.  The  imagination  of  man’s 
heart  is  evil  from  his  youth. 

R.  Moses  Haddarschan:  This  evil  leaven  is  placed  in  man 
from  the  time  that  he  is  formed. 

Massechet  Succa :  This  evil  leaven  has  seven  names  in  Scrip¬ 
ture.  It  is  called  evil,  an  unclean  prepuce,  an  enemy,  a  scandal, 
a  heart  of  stone,  the  north  wind  ;  all  this  signifies  the  malignity 
which  is  concealed  and  ingrained  in  the  heart  of  man. 

Midrasch  Tillim  says  the  same  thing,  and  that  God  will  free 
the  good  nature  of  man  from  the  evil. 

This  malignity  is  renewed  every  day  against  man,  as  it  is 
written,  Psalm  xxxvii.  The  wicked  watcheth  the  just,  and 
striveth  to  kill  him,  but  God  will  not  abandon  him. 

This  malignity  tries  the  heart  of  man  in  this  life,  and  will 
accuse  him  in  the  other. 

All  this  is  found  in  the  Talmud. 

Midrasch  Tillim  on  Ps.  iv.  :  “  Stand  in  awe  and  sin  not.” 
Stand  in  awe  and  be  afraid  of  your  lust,  and  it  will  not  lead  you 


OF  ORIGINAL  SIN. 


195 

into  sin.  And  on  Ps.  xxxvi.  “  The  wicked  has  said  in  his  heart : 
Let  not  the  fear  of  God  be  before  me.”  That  is  to  say  that  the 
malignity  natural  to  man  has  said  that  to  the  wicked. 

Misdrasch  el  Kohelet :  “  Better  is  a  poor  and  a  wise  child  than 
an  old  and  foolish  king  who  cannot  foresee  the  future.”  The 
child  is  virtue,  and  the  king  is  the  malignity  of  man.  It  is 
called  king  because  all  the  members  obey  it,  and  old  because  it 
is  in  the  heart  of  man  from  infancy  to  old  age,  and  foolish 
because  it  leads  man  in  the  way  of  perdition  which  he  does  not 
foresee. 

The  same  thing  is  in  Misdrasch  Tillim. 

Bereschist  Rabba  on  Ps.  xxxv.  :  “  Lord,  all  my  bones  shall 
bless  thee,  who  deliverest  the  poor  from  the  tyrant.”  And  is 
there  a  greater  tyrant  than  the  ’evil  leaven  ?  And  on  Proverbs 
xxv.,  “  If  thine  enemy  be  hungry,  feed  him.”  That  is  to  say,  if 
the  evil  leaven  hunger,  give  him  the  bread  of  wisdom  of  which 
speaks  Prov.  ix.,  and  if  he  be  thirsty,  give  him  the  water  of  which 
speaks  Isaiah  lv. 

Misdrasch  Tillim  says  the  same  thing,  and  that  the  Scripture 
in  that  passage  speaking  of  our  enemy,  means  the  evil  leaven, 
and  that  in  giving  it  that  bread  and  that  water,  we  heap  coals 
of  fire  on  his  head. 

Misdtasch  Rohclct  on  Ecclesiastes  ix.  11 A  great  king  besieged 
a  little  city.”  This  great  king  is  the  evil  leaven,  the  great 
engines  with  which  he  surrounds  it  are  temptations,  and  there 
has  been  found  a  poor  wise  man  who  has  delivered  it,  that  is  to 
say  virtue. 

And  on  Ps.  xli.  “  Blessed  is  he  that  considered  the  poor.” 

And  on  Ps.  lxxviii.  The  spirit  goethand  returneth  not  again, 
whereof  some  have  taken  occasion  of  error  concerning  the 
immortality  of  the  soul ;  but  the  sense  is  that  this  spirit  is  the 
evil  leaven,  which  accompanies  man  till  death,  and  will  not 
return  at  the  resurrection. 

And  on  Ps.  ciii.  the  same  thing. 

And  on  Ps.  xvi. 

Chronology  of  Rabbinism. 

The  citations  of  pages  are  from  the  book  Pugio . 


OF  ORIGINAL  SIN. 


196 

Page  27,  R.  Hakadosch,  anno  200,  author  of  the  Mischna  or 

vocal  law,  or  second  law. 

Commentaries  on  the  Mischna,  anno  34°  : 

The  one,  Siphra. 

Barajetot. 

Talmud  Hierosol. 

Tosiphtot. 

Bereschit  Raba/i ,  by  R.  Osaiah  Rabah,  commentary  on  the 
Mischna. 

Bereschit  Rabah,  Bar  Naconi ,  are  subtle  and  agreeable  dis¬ 
courses,  historical  and  theological.  The  same  author  wrote  the 
books  called  Rabot. 

A  hundred  years  after  the  Talmud  Hierosol.  anno  440,  was 
made  the  Babylonian  Talmud,  by  R.  Ase,  by  the  universal  con¬ 
sent  of  all  the  Jews,  who  are  necessarily  obliged  to  observe  all 
that  is  contained  therein. 

The  addition  of  R.  Ase  is  called  the  Gemara,  that  is  to  say 

the  commentary  on  the  Mischna. 

And  the  Talmud  as  a  whole  comprises  the  Mischna  and  the 

Gemara. 


THE  PERPETUITY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN 

RELIGION. 


Perpetuity. — That  religion  has  always  existed  on  earth,  which 
consists  in  believing  that  man  has  fallen  from  a  state  of  glory  and 
cf  communion  with  God  into  a  state  of  sorrow,  penitence,  and 
estrangement  from  God,  but  that  after  this  life  we  shall  be 
restored  by  a  Messiah  who  was  to  come.  All  things  have  passed 
away,  and  this  has  subsisted  for  which  are  all  things. 

Men  in  the  first  age  of  the  world  were  carried  away  into  every 
kind  of  misconduct,  and  yet  there  were  holy  men,  as  Enoch, 
Lamech  and  otheis,  who  awaited  with  patience  the  Christ  pro¬ 
mised  from  the  beginning  of  the  world.  Noah  saw  the  evil  of  men 
at  its  height ;  and  he  was  found  worthy  to  save  the  world  in  his  per¬ 
son,  by  the  hope  of  the  Messiah  of  whom  he  was  the  type.  Abra- 
ham  v  as  compassed  lound  about  by  idolaters,  when  God  revealed 
to  him  the  mystery  of  the  Messiah,  whom  he  greeted  from  afar. 
In  the  days  of  Isaac  and  Jacob  abomination  was  spread  over  the 
whole  earth,  but  these  holy  men  lived  in  faith,  and  Jacob  dying 
and  blessing  his  childien,  ciied  in  a  transport  which  made  him 
break  off  his  discourse,  “  I  await,  O  my  God,  the  Saviour  whom 
thou  hast  promised.  Salutare  tuum  expectabo ,  DomiueP  The 
Egyptians  were  infected  both  with  idolatry  and  magic,  even  the 
people  of  God  were  led  astray  by  their  example.  Yet  Moses  and 
others  saw  him  whom  they  saw  not,  and  adored  him,  looking 
to  the  eternal  gifts  which  he  was  preparing  for  them.  The 
Greeks  and  Latins  then  enthroned  false  deities,  the  poets  made 
a  hundred  divers  theologies,  the  philosophers  separated  into  a 
thousand  different  sects,  and  yet  in  the  heart  of  Judaea  were 
always  chosen  men  who  foretold  the  advent  of  this  Messiah, 
known  to  them  alone.  He  came  at  length  in  the  fulness  of 


THE  PERPETUITY  OF  THE 


198 

time,  and  since  then,  notwithstanding  the  birth  of  so  many 
schisms  and  heresies,  so  many  revolutions  in  government,  such 
great  changes  in  all  things,  this  Church,  adoring  him  who  has 
ever  been  adored,  has  subsisted  without  a  break.  It  is  a  won¬ 
derful,  incomparable  and  wholly  divine  fact,  that  this  Religion 
which  has  ever  endured,  has  ever  been  assailed.  A  thousand 
times  has  it  been  on  the  eve  of  an  universal  ruin,  and  whenever 
it  has  been  in  that  state  God  has  restored  it  by  extraordinary 
manifestations  of  his  power.  This  is  marvellous,  so  also  that  it 
has  survived  without  yielding  to  the  will  of  tyrants.  F01  it  is  not 
strange  that  a  State  subsists  when  its  laws  sometimes  give  way 
to  necessity,  but  that  .  .  . 

States  would  perish  if  they  did  not  often  make  their  laws  bend 
to  necessity,  but  Religion  has  never  suffered  this  or  practised  it. 
And  indeed  there  must  be  either  compromise  or  miracles.  There 
is  nothing  unusual  in  being  saved  by  yielding,  and  stiictly 
speaking  this  is  not  endurance,  besides  in  the  end  they  perish 
utterly  :  there  is  none  which  has  endured  a  thousand  years. 
But  that  this  Religion,  although  inflexible,  should  always  have 
been  maintained,  shows  that  it  is  divine. 

The 'religion  which  alone  is  contrary  to  our  nature,  to  common 
sense,  and  to  our  pleasures,  is  that  alone  which  has  always 
existed. 

The  science  which  alone  is  contrary  to  common  sense  and 
human  nature,  is  that  alone  which  has  always  subsisted  among 

men. 

To  show  that  the  true  Jews  and  the  true  Christians  have  one 
and  the  same  Religion— The  religion  of  the  Jews  seemed  to 
consist  essentially  in  the  fatherhood  of  Abraham,  in  ciicumcision, 
sacrifices  and  ceremonies,  in  the  ark,  in  the  temple  at  Jerusalem, 
and  lastly,  in  the  Law,  and  the  Covenant  with  Moses. 

I  say  that  it  consisted  in  none  of  these,  but  solely  in  the  love 
of  God,  and  that  all  else  was  rejected  by  him  ; 

That  God  did  not  accept  the  posterity  of  Abraham  ; 


CHRISTIAN  RELIGION. 


199 


That  the  Jews  if  they  transgressed  were  to  be  punished  like 
strangers.  Deut.  viii.  19.  “If  thou  at  all  forget  the  Lord  thy 
God,  and  walk  after  other  gods,  I  testify  against  you  this  day 
that  ye  shall  surely  perish  as  the  nations  which  God  has 
destroyed  before  you.” 

That  strangers  if  they  loved  God  were  to  be  received  by  him 
as  the  Jews.  Isaiah  lvi.  3.  “  Let  not  the  stranger  say,  The  Lord 
will  not  receive  me. — The  strangers  that  join  themselves  unto 
the  Lord  God  to  serve  him  and  love  him,  will  I  bring  unto  my 
holy  mountain,  and  accept  their  sacrifices,  for  mine  house  is  an 
house  of  prayer.” 

That  the  true  Jews  ascribed  all  their  merit  to  God,  and  not  to 
Abraham.  Isaiah  lxiii.  16.  “  Doubtless  thou  art  our  Father, 

though  Abraham  be  ignorant  of  us,  and  Israel  acknowledge  us 
not.  Thou  art  our  Father  and  our  Redeemer.” 

Moses  himself  said  that  God  would  not  accept  the  person  of  any. 

Deut.  x.  17.  “  God,”  said  he,  “accepteth  neither  persons  nor 

sacrifices.” 

That  the  circumcision  commanded  was  that  of  the  heart. 
Deut.  x.  16  ;  Jeremiah  iv.  4.  “  Be  ye  circumcised  in  heart.  Cut  off 
the  superfluities  of  your  heart,  harden  not  your  hearts,  for 
your  God  is  a  great  God,  strong  and  terrible,  who  accepteth  not 
the  person  of  any.” 

That  God  said  he  would  one  day  do  it.  Deut.  xxx.  6.  “  God 
will  circumcise  thine  heart,  and  thy  children’s  heart,  that  thou 
mayest  love  him  with  all  thine  heart.” 

That  the  uncircumcised  in  heart  should  be  judged. 

Jer.  ix.  26.  For  God  will  judge  the  uncircumcised  peoples,  and 
all  the  people  of  Israel,  because  he  is  uncircumcised  in  heart. 

That  the  exterior  is  nothing  in  comparison  of  the  interior. 
Joel.  ii.  13.  Scmdite  corda  vestra ,  etc.  Isaiah  lviii.  3,  4,  etc. 

The  love  of  God  is  commanded  in  the  whole  of  Deuteronomy, 
Deut.  xxx.  19 :  “I  call  heaven  and  earth  to  witness  that  I  have  set 
before  you  death  and  life,  that  you  may  choose  life,  and  that  you 
may  love  God,  and  obey  him,  for  God  is  your  life.” 

That  the  Jews,  for  lack  of  their  love,  should  be  rejected  for 
their  crimes,  and  the  Gentiles  chosen  in  their  stead. 

Rosea  i.  10. 


400 


THE  PERPETUITY  OF  THE 


Deut.  xxxii.  20.  “  I  will  hide  myself  from  them  in  view  of  their 
latter  sins,  for  they  are  a  froward  generation.  They  have 
provoked  me  to  anger  by  things  which  are  no  gods,  and  I  will 
provoke  them  to  jealousy  by  a  people  which  is  not  my  people, 
by  an  ignorant  and  foolish  nation.” 

Isaiah  lxv.  1.  That  temporal  goods  are  false,  and  that  the 
true  good  is  to  be  united  to  God. 

Psalm  cxliii.  15.  That  their  feasts  were  displeasing  to  God. 

Amos  v.  21.  That  the  sacrifices  of  the  Jews  were  displeasing 
to  God. 

Isa.  lxvi.  1-3  ;  1.  11  ;  Jerem.  vi.  20. 

David,  Miserere.  Even  on  the  part  of  the  good,  Expectavi. 

Psalm  xlix.  8-14.  That  he  has  established  them  only  for  their 
hardness.  Micah,  admirably,  vi.  6-8. 

I.  Kings  xv.  22  ;  Hosea  vi.  6. 

That  the  sacrifices  of  the  Gentiles  should  be  accepted  of  God, 
and  that  God  would  none  of  the  sacrifices  of  the  Jews.  Malachi 
i.  11. 

That  God  would  make  a  new  covenant  with  the  Messiah,  and 
that  the  Old  should  be  disannulled.  Jer.  xxxi.  31. 

Mandata  non  bona.  Ezek.  xx.  25. 

That  the  old  things  should  be  forgotten.  Isa.  xliii.  18,  19  ; 
lxv.  17,  18. 

That  the  ark  should  come  no  more  to  mind.  Jer.  iii.  15,  16. 

That  the  temple  should  be  rejected.  Jer.  vii.  12 — 14. 

That  the  sacrifices  should  be  rejected,  and  purer  sacrifices 
established.  Malachi  i.  n. 

That  the  order  of  Aaron’s  priesthood  should  be  rejected 
and  that  of  Melchizedek  introduced  by  the  Messiah.  Dixit 
Do  minus. 

That  this  sacrifice  should  be  eternal.  Ib. 

That  Jerusalem  should  be  rejected,  and  Rome  admitted. 

That  the  name  of  the  Jews  should  be  rejected  and  a  new  name 
given.  Isa.  lxv.  15. 

That  this  new  name  should  be  more  excellent  than  that  of 
the  Jews,  and  eternal.  Isa.  lvii.  5. 

That  the  Jews  should  be  without  prophets,  Amos,  without 
a  king,  without  princes,  without  sacrifice,  without  an  idol 


CHRISTIAN  RELIGION. 


201 


That  the  Jews  should  nevertheless  always  remain  a  people. 
Jer.  xxxi.  ,36. 

Perpetuity. — Men  have  always  believed  in  a  Messiah.  The 
tradition  from  Adam  was  still  fresh  in  Noah  and  in  Moses. 
After  these  the  prophets  bore  witness,  at  the  same  time  fore¬ 
telling  other  things  which  being  from  time  to  time  fulfilled  in 
the  eyes  of  all,  demonstrated  the  truth  of  their  mission,  and 
consequently  that  of  their  promises  touching  the  Messiah. 
Jesus  Christ  worked  miracles,  and  the  Apostles  also,  who  con¬ 
verted  all  the  Gentiles ;  and  the  prophecies  being  thus  once 
accomplished,  the  Messiah  is  for  ever  proved. 

...  On  that  account  I  reject  all  other  religions. 

In  that  I  find  an  answer  to  all  objections. 

It  is  just  that  a  God  so  pure  should  only  disclose  himself  to 
those  whose  hearts  are  purified. 

Therefore  that  religion  is  lovable  to  me,  and  I  find  it  sufficiently 
authorized  by  so  divine  a  morality,  but  I  find  yet  more  .  .  . 

I  find  it  a  convincing  fact  that  since  the  memory  of  man  has 
lasted,  it  was  constantly  declared  to  men  that  they  were  uni¬ 
versally  corrupt,  and  that  a  Redeemer  should  come  ; 

That  it  was  not  one  man  who  said  it,  but  an  infinity  of  men, 
and  a  whole  nation  lasting  for  four  thousand  years,  prophesying, 
and  created  for  that  very  purpose  .  .  .  So  I  stretch  out  my  arms 
to  my  Redeemer,  who  having  been  foretold  for  four  thousand 
years,  has  come  to  suffer  and  to  die  for  me  on  earth  at  the  time 
and  under  all  the  circumstances  which  had  been  foretold,  and 
by  his  grace  I  await  death  in  peace,  in  the  hope  of  being  ' 
eternally  united  to  him  ;  yet  I  live  with  joy,  whether  in  the  good 
which  it  pleases  him  to  bestow  on  me,  or  in  the  ill  which  he 
sends  for  my  good,  and  which  he  has  taught  me  to  bear  by  his 
example. 

The  Synagogue  preceded  the  Church,  the  Jews  preceded  the 
Christians,  the  prophets  foretold  the  Christians,  Saint  John 
foretold  Jesus  Christ. 

No  religion  but  our  own  has  taught  that  man  is  born  in  sin  ; 


202 


PERPETUITY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION. 

no  sect  of  philosophers  ever  said  this,  therefore  none  has  said 
the  truth. 

No  sect  or  religion  has  always  existed  on  earth,  except  the 
Christian  religion. 

The  Christian  religion  is  that  alone  which  renders  man  lov¬ 
able  and  happy  at  once.  Living  in  the  world  he  cannot  be 
lovable  and  happy  at  the  same  time. 

In  all  times  either  men  have  spoken  of  the  true  God,  or  the 
true  God  has  spoken  to  men. 

There  are  two  foundations,  one  interior  and  the  other  exterior 
crace  and  miracles,  and  both  are  supernatural. 


PROOFS  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION, 


Proofs  of  Religion, 

Morals — Doctrine — Miracles — Prophecies — Figures. 

Proof — i.  The  Christian  religion  having  established  itself 
so  strongly,  yet  so  quietly,  whilst  contrary  to  nature. — 2.  The 
sanctity,  the  dignity,  and  the  humility  of  a  Christian  soul. — * 
3.  The  wonders  of  holy  Scripture. — 4.  Jesus  Christ  in  par¬ 
ticular. — 5.  The  apostles  in  particular. — 6.  Moses  and  the  pro¬ 
phets  in  particular. — 7.  The  Jewish  people. — 8.  The  Prophecies. 
— 9.  Perpetuity.  No  religion  has  perpetuity. — 10.  The  Doctrine, 
which  explains  all. — 11.  The  sanctity  of  this  law. — 12.  By  the 
course  of  the  world. 

It  is  beyond  doubt  that  after  considering  what  is  life  and 
what  is  religion  we  cannot  refuse  to  act  on  the  inclination  to 
follow  it,  if  it  comes  into  our  heart,  and  it  is  certain  there  is  no 
ground  for  jeering  at  those  who  follow  it. 

The  ge7ieral  conduct  of  the  world  towards  the  Church. — Goc 
willing  both  to  blind  and  enlighten. — The  event  having  proved 
that  these  prophecies  were  divine,  the  remainder  ought  to  be 
believed,  and  hence  we  see  that  the  order  of  the  world  is  on  this 
manner. 

The  miracles  of  the  creation  and  the  deluge  being  forgotten 
God  sent  the  law  and  the  miracles  of  Moses,  the  prophets  who 
prophesied  particular  things,  and  to  prepare  an  abiding  miracle 
he  prepares  prophecies  and  their  fulfilment.  But  as  the  pro¬ 
phecies  might  be  suspected  he  wishes  to  make  them  beyond 
suspicion,  etc. 

.  .  .  But  even  those  who  seem  most  opposed  to  the  glory  of 
religion  are  not  in  that  respect  useless  for  others.  We  draw 


204 


PROOFS  OF  TIIE 


fiom  them  the  first  argument,  that  here  is  something  supet 
natural,  for  a  blindness  of  that  kind  is  not  natural,  and  if  their 
folly  renders  them  so  opposed  to  their  own  good,  it  will  serve 
to  guarantee  others  against  it,  by  the  horror  of  an  example  so 
deplorable,  and  a  folly  so  worthy  of  compassion. 

.  .  .  Men  revile  what  they  do  not  understand.  The  Christian 
religion  consists  in  two  points.  It  is  of  equal  moment  to  men  to 
know  them  both,  and  equally  dangerous  to  ignore  either.  And 
it  is  equally  of  God’s  mercy  that  he  has  given  marks  of  both. 

Yet  they  take  occasion  to  conclude  that  one  of  these  points 
does  not  exist  from  that  which  is  intended  to  make  them  certain 
of  the  other.  Those  sages  who  have  said  there  is  a  God  have 
been  persecuted,  the  Jews  were  hated,  and  still  more  the 
Christians.  They  saw  by  the  light  of  nature,  that  if  there 
be  a  true  religion  on  earth,  the  course  of  all  things  must 
tend  to  it  as  to  a  centre.  And  on  this  ground  they  venture 
to  revile  the  Christian  religion  because  they  misunderstand  it. 
They  imagine  that  it  consists  simply  in  the  adoration  of  a  God 
conceived  as  great,  powerful  and  eternal;  which  is  in  fact 
deism,  almost  as  far  removed  from  the  Christian  religion  as 
atheism,  its  exact  opposite.  And  hence  they  infer  the  false¬ 
hood  of  our  religion,  because  they  do  not  see  that  all  things 
concur  to  the  establishment  of  this  point,  that  God  does  not 
manifest  himsell  to  man  with  all  the  evidence  which  is  possible. 

But  let  them  conclude  what  they  will  against  deism,  they  can 
conclude  nothing  on  that  account  against  the  Christian  religion, 
which  properly  consists  in  the  mystery  of  the  Redeemer,  who, 
uniting  in  himself  the  two  natures  human  and  divine,  has  with¬ 
drawn  men  from  the  corruption  of  sin  that  he  might  in  his  divine 
person  reconcile  them  to  God. 

True  religion  then  teaches  these  two  truths  to  men,  that  there 
is  a  God  whom  they  are  capable  of  knowing,  and  that  there  is 
such  corruption  in  their  nature  as  to  render  them  unworthy  of 
him.  It  is  of  equal  importance  to  men  that  they  should  appre¬ 
hend  the  one  and  the  other  of  these  points,  and  it  is  alike  dan¬ 
gerous  for  man  to  know  God  without  the  knowledge  of  his  own 
worthlessness,  and  to  know  his  own  worthlessness  without  the 


CHRISTIAN  RELIGION. 


205 


knowledge  of  the  Redeemer  who  may  deliver  him  from  it.  To 
apprehend  the  one  without  the  other  begets  either  the  pride  of 
philosophers,  who  knew  God,  but  not  their  own  wretchedness  ; 
or  the  despair  of  atheists,  who  know  their  own  wrretchedness,  but 
not  the  Redeemer.  And  as  it  is  alike  necessary  for  man  to 
know  these  two  points,  so  it  is  alike  of  the  mercy  of  God  to 
have  given  us  the  knowledge.  The  Christian  religion  does  this  ; 
it  is  in  this  that  it  consists.  Let  us  herein  examine  the  order  of 
the  world,  and  see  if  all  things  do  not  tend  to  establish  these 
two  main  points  of  our  Religion. 

It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  no  canonical  writer  has  ever 
employed  nature  to  prove  God.  All  tend  to  make  him  be  believed. 
David,  Solomon  and  others  have  never  said  :  “  There  is  no 
vacuum,  therefore  there  is  a  God.”  They  must  have  been  cleverer 
than  the  cleverest  in  after  days  who  have  all  used  this  argument. 

This  is  wrell  worth  considering. 

If  it  be  a  mark  of  weakness  to  prove  God  by  nature,  despise 
not  the  Scripture  for  not  doing  so  :  if  it  be  a  mark  of  power  to 
know  these  contradictions,  value  the  Scriptures  on  that  account. 

What  !  Do  you  not  say  yourself  that  the  sky  and  the  birds 
prove  God? — No. — And  does  not  your  religion  say  so? — 
No.  For  however  it  may  be  true  in  a  sense  for  some  souls  to 
whom  God  has  given  this  light,  it  is  nevertheless  false  in  regard 
to  the  majority. 

Think  you  it  is  impossible  that  God  is  infinite,  without  parts  ? 
— Yes. — I  will  then  make  you  see  something  which  is  infinite 
and  indivisible.  A  point  moving  everywhere  with  infinite  swift¬ 
ness,  for  it  is  in  all  places,  and  is  whole  and  entire  in  each 
situation. 

Perhaps  this  effect  of  nature,  which  seems  to  you  impossible 
beforehand,  may  teach  you  to  know  that  there  may  be  others 
also  which  you  know  not  as  yet.  Do  not  then  draw  this  con¬ 
clusion  from  your  apprenticeship,  that  nothing  remains  for  you 
to  know,  but  rather  that  an  infinity  remains  for  you  to  know. 

It  is  incomprehensible  that  there  should  be  a  God,  and  income 


206 


T ROOFS  OF  THE 


prehensible  that  there  should  not  be;  that  there  should  be  a  soul 
in  the  body,  and  that  we  should  have  no  soul ;  that  the  world 
should  have  been  created,  and  that  it  should  not,  etc.  ;  that 
original  sin  should  be,  and  that  it  should  not  be. 

If  we  choose  to  say  that  man  is  too  little  to  merit  communion 
with  God,  we  must  be  indeed  great  to  form  a  judgment  on  the 
\  subject. 

The  Eternal  is  for  ever,  if  he  is  at  all. 

But  it  is  impossible  that  God  should  ever  be  the  end,  if  he  is 
not  the  beginning.  We  look  above,  but  lean  upon  the  sand, 
and  the  earth  will  melt,  and  we  shall  fall  whilst  looking  towards 
heaven. 

Objection.  The  Scripture  is  plainly  full  of  matters  which  were 
not  dictated  by  the  Holy  Spirit. 

Answer.  Then  they  do  no  harm  to  faith. 

Objection.  But  the  Church  has  decided  that  all  is  of  the  Holy 
Spirit. 

Answer.  I  answer  two  things  :  i .  That  the  Church  has  never 
so  decided  :  2.  That  if  she  should  so  decide  it  might  be  main¬ 
tained. 

My  God  !  what  trash  is  all  this  talk  :  “  Has  God  made  the 
world  but  to  condemn  it  ?  will  he  ask  so  much  of  creatures  so 
weak?”  etc.  Scepticism  is  the  remedy  for  this  evil,  and  will 
lower  this  vanity. 

God  has  willed  to  redeem  mankind  and  to  open  salvation  to 
those  who  seek  him.  But  men  render  themselves  so  unworthy 
of  it,  that  it  is  just  that  God  should  refuse  to  some  because  of 
their  hardness  of  heart  what  he  grants  to  others  out  of  a  mercy 
not  their  due.  Had  it  been  his  will  to  overcome  the  stubborn¬ 
ness  of  the  most  hardened,  he  could  have  rendered  them  unable 
to  doubt  the  truth  of  his  essence,  in  revealing  himself  manifestly 
to  them  as  he  will  appear  at  the  last  day,  amid  thunderings  and 
lightnings,  and  so  great  a  convulsion  of  nature,  that  the  dead  will 
rise  again,  and  the  blindest  shall  see  him. 


CHRISTIAN  RELIGION. 


207 


Not  thus  willed  he  to  appear  in  his  gentle  advent,  because  since 
so  many  men  make  themselves  unworthy  of  his  mercy,  he 
willed  to  leave  them  deprived  of  the  good  which  they  refuse.  It 
had  not  then  been  just  that  he  should  appear  in  a  manner  plainly 
divine,  and  wholly  capable  of  convincing  all  men,  but  neither 
had  it  been  just  that  he  should  come  in  so  hidden  a  manner  as 
not  to  be  recognised  of  those  who  sincerely  sought  him.  He 
has  willed  to  reveal  himself  wholly  to  these,  and  thus  willing  to 
appear  openly  to  those  who  seek  him  with  their  whole  heart,  and 
to  hide  himself  from  those  who  fly  him  with  all  their  heart,  he 
has  so  tempered  the  knowledge  of  himself  as  to  give  signs  of 
himself  visible  to  those  who  seek  him,  and  obscure  to  those  who 
seek  him  not. 

/  There  is  enough  light  for  those  who  wish  earnestly  to  see,  and 
i  enough  obscurity  for  those  of  a  contrary  mind.  J 


Therefore  let  men  recognise  the  truth  of  religion  in  the  very 
obscurity  of  religion,  in  the  little  .light  we  have  of  it,  and  in  our 
indifference  to  the  knowledge  of  it. 


The  prophecies,  the  very  miracles  and  proofs  of  our  Religion, 
are  not  of  such  a  nature  that  we  can  say  they  are  absolutely 
convincing.  But  they  are  also  of  such  a  kind,  that  none  can  say 
that  it  is  unreasonable  to  believe  in  them.  Thus  there  is  both 
evidence  and  obscurity  to  enlighten  some  and  blind  others ; 
but  the  evidence  is  such  that  it  surpasses  or  at  least  equals  the 
evidence  to  the  contrary,  so  that  it  is  not  reason  which  can 
determine  us  not  to  follow  it,  and  therefore  it  can  only  be  lust 
and  malice  of  heart.  And  by  this  means  there  is  evidence 
enough  to  condemn,  and  not  enough  to  convince  ;  so  it  appears 
in  those  who  follow  it,  that  it  is  grace  and  not  reason  which 
causes  them  to  follow  it ;  and  in  those  who  fly  it,  it  is  lust,  not 
reason,  which  causes  them  to  fly  it. 


Who  can  help  admiring  and  embracing  a  religion  which 
thoroughly  knows  that  which  we  recognise  more  and  more  in 
proportion  to  our  light  ? 


That  God  has  willed  to  hide  himself. — If  there  were  only  one 


20S 


PROOFS  OF  THE 


Religion  God  would  certainly  be  manifest ;  so  also  if  there  were 
no  martyrs  but  in  our  own  Religion. 

God  being  thus  hidden,  every  religion  which  does  not  say  that 
God  is  hidden  is  not  the  true  religion,  and  every  religion  which 
does  not  show  the  reason  of  it  is  unedifying.  Our  religion  does 
all  this  :  Vere  tu  es  Dens  absconditus. 

Religion  is  so  great  a  thing,  that  it  is  right  that  those  who  will 
not  take  the  trouble  to  seek  if  it  be  obscure  should  be  deprived 
of  it.  Why  then  should  any  complain,  if  it  be  such  as  to  be  found 
by  seeking? 

The  obscurity  would  be  too  great,  if  truth  had  not  visible 
signs.  This  is  a  marvellous  one,  that  it  has  always  been  pre¬ 
served  in  a  Church  and  a  visible  assembly.  The  clearness  would 
be  too  great  if  there  were  only  one  opinion  in  this  Church,  but 
to  recognise  what  is  true  is  only  to  see  what  has  always  existed, 
for  it  is  certain  that  truth  has  always  existed,  and  that  nothing 
false  has  been  always  in  existence. 

Recognise  then  the  truth  of  religion  even  in  the  obscurity  of 
religion,  in  the  little  light  we  have  of  it,  and  in  the  indifference 
we  have  to  its  knowledge. 

God  chooses  rather  to  sway  the  will  than  the  intellect.  Perfect 
clearness  would  be  useful  to  the  intellect  but  would  harm  the 
will.  To  humble  pride. 

Were  there  no  obscurity  man  would  not  be  sensible  of  his 
corruption ;  were  there  no  light  man  would  despair  of  remedy. 
Thus  it  is  not  only  just,  but  useful  for  us,  that  God  should  be 
partly  hidden  and  partly  revealed,  because  it  is  equally  dan¬ 
gerous  for  man  to  know  God  without  the  knowledge  of  his 
misery,  and  to  know  his  misery  without  the  knowledge  of  God. 

If  the  mercy  of  God  is  so  great  that  his  teaching  is  salutary 
even  when  he  hides  himself,  what  great  light  may  we  not 
expect  when  he  reveals  himself? 

We  shall  understand  nothing  of  the  works  of  God  if  we  do  not 


CHRISTIAN  RELIGION.  209 

take  it  as  a  principle  that  he  has  willed  to  blind  some  and 
enlighten  others. 

What  say  the  prophets  of  Jesus  Christ?  That  he  will  be 
manifestly  God  ?  No  :  but  that  he  is  a  God  truly  hidden,  that  he 
,  be  misunderstood  ;  that  none  would  think  it  was  he  ;  that 
he  would  be  a  stone  of  stumbling  on  which  many  would  fall,  etc. 
Let  us  no  longer  then  be  reproached  with  want  of  clearness, 
since  we  make  profession  of  it. 

But,  it  is  said,  there  are  obscurities. — And  without  that,  no  one 
would  have  stumbled  at  Jesus  Christ,  which  is  one  of  the  formal 
announcements  of  the  prophets  :  Exccrca  .  .  . 

Instead  of  complaining  that  God  is  hidden,  you  will  give 
him  thanks  for  having  revealed  so  much  of  himself  ;  and  you 
will  give  him  thanks  again  for  not  having  revealed  himself  to 
the  proudly  wise,  who  are  unworthy  to  know  so  holy  a  God. 

Two  sorts  of  persons  know  :  those  whose  heart  is  humble,  and 
who  love  lowliness,  whatever  their  order  of  intellect,  whether 
high  or  low,  and  those  who  have  understanding  enough  to  see 
the  truth,  whatever  opposition  they  may  feel  to  it. 

I  may  well  love  total  darkness,  but  if  God  keep  me  in  a  state 
of  semi-obscurity,  this  partial  darkness  is  unpleasant  to  me,  and 
because  I  do  not  see  in  it  the  advantages  of  total  darkness  it 
pleases  me  not.  This  is  a  fault,  and  a  proof  that  I  am  making 
an  idol  of  darkness  apart  from  God’s  order.  Now  his  order 
alone  is  to  be  worshipped. 

Did  the  world  exist  to  instruct  man  concerning  God,  his 
divinity  would  shine  out  incontestably  from  every  part  of  it,  but 
as  it  exists  only  by  Jesus  Christ,  and  for  Jesus  Christ,  and  to  in¬ 
struct  men  concerning  their  corruption  and  their  redemption, 
proofs  of  these  two  truths  start  up  everywhere. 

What  is  seen  does  not  denote  either  the  total  exclusion  or 
the  manifest  presence  of  divinity,  but  the  presence  of  a  God  who 
hides  himself.  All  bears  this  character. 

Had  nought  of  God  ever  appeared,  this  eternal  deprivation 

p 


210 


PROOFS  OF  THE 


would  have  been  equivocal,  and  might  as  well  be  interpreted 
of  the  total  absence  of  divinity,  as  of  man’s  unworthiness  to 
know  him  ;  but  by  occasional  and  not  continual  appearances  he 
has  taken  away  all  ambiguity.  If  he  have  appeared  once,  he  is 
for  ever,  and  thus  it  must  be  concluded  both  that  there  is  a  God, 
and  that  men  are  unworthy  of  him. 

God,  that  he  may  reserve  to  himself  alone  the  right  to  instruct 
us  and  that  he  may  render  the  difficulty  of  our  being  unintel¬ 
ligible  to  us,  has  hidden  the  knot  so  high,  or  rather  so  low,  that 
we  cannot  reach  it.  So  that  it  is  not  by  the  efforts  of  our 
reason,  but  by  the  simple  submission  of  our  reason,  that  we  can 
truly  know  ourselves. 

Wisdom  sends  us  to  childhood :  -nisi  efficiamini  sicut  parvuli. 

“A  miracle,”  says  one,  “would  strengthen  my  faith.”  He  says 
so  when  he  does  not  see  one.  Reasons  seen  from  afar  seem  to 
limit  our  view,  but  as  we  reach  them  we  begin  to  see  beyond. 
Nothing  stops  the  activity  of  our  spirit.  There  is  no  rule,  we  say, 
which  has  not  its  exception,  no  truth  so  general  but  that  there  is 
a  side  on  which  it  is  lacking.  If  it  be  not  absolutely  universal, 
we  have  a  pretext  for  applying  the  exception  to  the  matter  in 
hand,  and  for  saying  :  This  is  not  always  true ,  hence  there  are 
cases  in  which  it  is  not  so.  It  only  remains  to  show  that  this 
is  one  of  them.  And  we  must  be  very  awkward  or  unlucky  if  we 
do  not  find  one  some  day. 

Contradictions. 

Infinite  wisdom  and  wisdom  of  Religion 

Contradiction  is  a  bad  mark  of  truth. 

Much  that  is  certain  is  contradicted. 

Much  that  is  false  passes  without  contradiction. 

Contradiction  is  not  a  mark  of  falsehood,  nor  the  want  of  con¬ 
tradiction  a  mark  of  truth. 


There  is  a  pleasure  in  being  in  a  vessel  beaten  about  by  a 


CHRISTIAN  RELIGION. 


211 


storm,  provided  we  are  certain  it  will  not  founder.  The  perse¬ 
cutions  which  try  the  Church  are  of  this  kind. 

The  history  of  the  Church  should  rightly  be  called  the  history 
of  truth. 

Those  who  find  difficulties  of  belief  seek  an  excuse  in  the 
unbelief  of  the  Jews.  “  If  it  was  so  clear,”  say  they,  “  why  did 
not  the  Jews  believe?”  And  they  almost  wish  the  Jews  had 
believed,  that  they  might  not  be  deterred  by  the  example  of 
their  refusal.  But  their  very  unbelief  is  the  foundation  of  our 
faith.  We  should  be  much  less  disposed  to  believe  if  they  were 
on  our  side.  We  should  then  have  a  far  more  ample  pretext. 
This  is  the  wonderful  point,  to  have  made  the  Jews  great  lovers 
of  the  things  foretold,  and  great  enemies  of  their  accomplish¬ 
ment. 

* 

What  could  the  Jews,  his  enemies,  do?  Receiving  him  they 
give  proof  of  him  by  that  reception,  for  then  the  Messiah  is 
acknowledged  by  those  to  whom  was  committed  the  expectation 
of  his  coming  ;  rejecting  him  they  prove  his  truth  by  that 
rejection. 

On  the  fact  that  the  Christian  Religion  does  not  stand  alone  — 
This  is  so  far  from  being  a  reason  against  believing  it  the  true 
one  that,  on  the  contrary,  it  proves  it  to  be  so. 

Those  who  love  not  the  truth  take  as  a  pretext  that  it  is  con¬ 
tested,  and  that  a  multitude  deny  it  ;  and  thus  their  error 
comes  from  this  alone,  that  they  love  neither  truth  nor  charity. 
So  they  are  without  excuse. 

The  wicked  who  profess  to  follow  reason,  ought  to  be  extremely 
strong  in  reason. 

What  then  do  they  say  ? 

Do  we  not  see,  say  they,  beasts  live  and  die  like  men,  and 
Turks  like  Christians?  They  have  their  ceremonies,  their  pro¬ 
phets,  their  doctors,  their  saints,  their  religious,  as  well  as  we, 
etc.  But  how  is  this  contrary  to  the  Scripture  ?  Does  it  not  say 
all  this? 


212  PROOFS  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION. 

If  you  care  but  little  to  know  the  truth,  here  is  enough  for 
your  peace.  But  if  you  desire  to  know  it  with  your  whole  heart, 
this  is  not  enough,  look  to  the  details.  This  would  suffice  for 
a  question  in  philosophy,  but  not  here,  where  your  all  is  con¬ 
cerned.  And  yet,  after  a  slight  meditation  of  this  kind,  we 
shall  go  off  to  amuse  ourselves,  etc.  We  should  acquaint  our¬ 
selves  with  this  religion  ;  even  if  it  does  not  disclose  the  reason 
for  such  obscurity,  it  will  perhaps  teach  it  to  us. 

If  God  had  permitted  one  only  Religion,  it  would  have  been 
too  easily  recognised.  But  when  we  lock  at  it  near  we  can  easily 
see  the  true  through  the  confusion. 


4 


PROOFS  OF  THE  DIVINITY  OF  JESUS 

CHRIST. 


Perpetuity. — Let  it  be  considered  that  from  the  beginning  of 
the  world  the  expectation  or  the  worship  of  the  Messiah  has  sub¬ 
sisted  without  a  break  ;  that  there  have  been  men  who  said  that 
God  had  revealed  to  them  the  future  birth  of  a  Redeemer  who 
should  save  his  people ;  that  afterwards  came  Abraham  saying  he 
had  had  a  revelation  that  the  Messiah  was  to  spring  from  him 
by  a  son  who  should  be  born  ;  that  Jacob  declared  that  of  his 
twelve  sons  the  Messiah  would  spring  from  Judah ;  that  Moses 
and  the  prophets  then  came  to  declare  the  time  and  the 
manner  of  his  advent ;  that  they  said  their  law  was  only  pro¬ 
visional  till  that  of  the  Messiah,  that  it  should  last  till  then 
but  the  other  should  endure  eternally  ;  that  thus  either  their 
law  or  that  of  the  Messiah,  of  which  it  was  the  promise, 
would  be  always  upon  earth ;  that  in  fact  it  has  always  endured  ; 
that  at  last  Jesus  Christ  has  come  with  all  the  circumstances 
foretold.  How  wonderful  is  this  ! 

The  two  most  ancient  books  in  the  world  are  those  of  Moses 
and  Job,  the  one  a  Jew,  the  other  a  Gentile,  both  of  whom 
regard  Jesus  Christ  as  their  common  centre  and  object  :  Moses 
in  reporting  the  promises  of  God  to  Abraham,  Jacob,  etc.,  and 
his  prophecies.  And  Job,  Quis  viihi  det  lit ,  etc.  Scio  enim  quod 
redemptor  mens  vivit ,  etc. 

I  believe  that  Joshua  was  the  first  of  God’s  people  who  had 
this  name,  as  Jesus  Christ  was  the  last  of  God’s  people. 

What  man  had  ever  so  great  renown  !  The  whole  Jewish 
people  foretold  him  before  his  coming.  The  Gentile  world 


214 


PROOFS  OF  THE  DIVINITi 


worships  him  after  his  coming.  The  two  worlds,  Gentile  and 
Jewish,  regard  him  as  their  centre. 

Yet  what  man  ever  had  less  enjoyment  of  his  renown  !  Of  thirty- 
three  years  he  spent  thirty  in  retirement.  For  three  years  he 
passed  as  an  impostor,  the  priests  and  rulers  rejected  him,  his 
friends  and  kinsmen  despised  him.  At  the  end  he  died, 
betrayed  by  one  of  his  own  disciples,  denied  by  another, 
abandoned  by  all. 

What  part  then  had  he  in  all  this  renown  ?  Never  man  had 
more  glory,  never  man  more  ignominy.  All  this  renown  was  for 
our  sakes,  to  enable  us  to  recognise  him,  he  took  none  of  it  for 
himself. 

Office  of  Jesus  Christ. — He  alone  was  to  produce  a  great  people, 
elect,  holy,  and  chosen,  to  lead  it,  to  nourish  it,  to  bring  it  into  a 
place  of  rest  and  holiness,  to  make  it  holy  to  God,  to  make  it  the 
temple  of  God,  to  reconcile  it  to  God,  to  save  it  from  the  wrath 
of  God,  to  deliver  it  from  the  slavery  of  sin,  which  visibly  reigns 
in  man,  to  give  laws  to  this  people,  to  engrave  these  laws  on 
their  heart,  to  offer  himself  to  God  for  them,  to  sacrifice  himself 
for  them,  to  be  a  victim  without  spot,  himself  the  priest,  needing 
to  offer  himself,  his  body  and  his  blood,  and  yet  to  offer  bread 
and  wine  to  God  .  .  . 

After  many  persons  had  come  before,  at  last  came  Jesus 
Christ,  to  say  :  “  Here  am  I  and  this  is  the  hour,  that  which  the 
prophets  had  said  was  to  come  in  the  fulness  of  time.  I  tell  you 
what  my  apostles  will  do.  The  Jews  shall  be  cast  out,  Jerusalem 
shall  be  soon  destroyed,  and  the  Gentiles  shall  enter  into  the 
knowledge  of  God.  My  apostles  shall  do  this  after  you  have 
slain  the  heir  of  the  vineyard.” 

Then  the  Apostles  said  to  the  Jews,  “You  shall  be  accursed,” 
and  to  the  Gentiles,  “You  shall  enter  into  the  knowledge  of 
God  ;  ”  and  that  came  to  pass.  Celsus  laughed  at  it. 

Then  Jesus  Christ  came  to  tell  men  that  they  had  no  enemies 
but  themselves,  that  their  passions  cut  them  off  from  God,  that 
he  came  to  destroy  these,  and  give  them  his  grace  to  unite  them 
all  in  an  holy  Church, thathecameto  call  into  this  Church  Gentiles 


OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 


215 


and  jews,  that  he  came  to  destroy  the  idols  of  the  former  and 
the  superstition  of  the  latter.  To  this  all  men  are  opposed,  not 
only  by  the  natural  opposition  of  lust ;  but  above  all,  the  kings 
of  the  earth,  as  had  been  foretold,  gathered  together  to  destroy 
this  religion  in  its  infancy.  Quare  fremuerunt  gentes.  Reges 
terra  adversus  Christum. 

All  that  was  great  on  earth  was  united  together,  the  learned, 
the  wise,  the  kings.  The  first  wrote,  the  second  condemned, 
the  last  slew.  Yet  notwithstanding  all  these  oppositions,  these 
men,  so  simple  and  so  weak,  resisted  all  these  forces,  sub¬ 
duing  even  the  mighty,  the  learned  and  the  wise,  and  removed 
idolatry  from  all  the  earth.  And  all  this  was  done  by  the  power 
which  had  foretold  it. 

And  prediction  crowns  all  this,  so  that  none  may  say  that 
chance  has  done  it  all. 

Whosoever  having  only  a  week  to  live,  does  not  perceive 
that  belief  is  the  right  side  to  take,  and  that  all  this  is  not  a 
stroke  of  chance  .  .  . 

Now  were  we  not  slaves  to  passion,  a  week  and  a  hundred 
years  would  seem  one  and  the  same  thing. 

The  prophets  foretold,  and  were  not  foretold.  The  saints 
were  foretold,  but  were  not  foretellers.  Jesus  Christ  was  foretold 
and  foreteller. 

If  I  had  never  heard  anything  of  the  Messiah,  yet  after  the 
admirable  predictions  of  the  course  of  the  world  which  I  see 
accomplished,  I  see  that  it  is  divine.  And  if  I  knew  that  these 
same  books  foretold  a  Messiah,  I  should  be  certain  that  he  would 
come.  And  seeing  that  they  place  his  time  before  the  destruction 
of  the  second  temple,  I  should  say  that  he  had  come. 

Ingrediens  mundum. 

Stone  upon  stone. 

That  which  preceded,  that  which  followed.  All  the  Jews  still 
exist,  and  are  wanderers. 

Why  did  not  Jesus  Christ  come  in  a  visible  manner,  instead 
of  drawing  proof  from  the  prophecies  which  went  before  him? 


210 


PROOFS  OF  TIIE  DIVINITY 


And  why  did  he  cause  himself  to  be  foretold  in  figures? 

God,  to  enable  the  Messiah  to  be  recognised  by  the  good 
and  unrecognised  by  the  wicked,  caused  him  to  be  so  fore¬ 
told.  If  the  manner  of  the  Messiah  had  been  clearly  foretold 
there  had  been  no  obscurity,  even  for  the  wicked  If  the  time 
had  been  obscurely  foretold,  there  had  been  obscurity  even  for 
the  good,  for  their  goodness  of  heart  would  not  have  made  them 
understand,  for  instance,  that  the  closed  mem  means  six  hundred 
years.  But  the  time  has  been  foretold  clearly  and  the  manner 
in  figures  only. 

By  this  means  the  wicked,  mistaking  the  promised  for  material 
blessings,  have  gone  astray,  in  spite  of  clear  indications  of  the 
time,  and  the  good  have  not  gone  astray  ;  for  the  interpretation 
of  the  promised  blessings  depends  on,  the  heart,  wont  to  call  that 
good  which  it  loves,  but  the  interpretation  of  the  promised  time 
does  not  depend  on  the  heart.  Thus  the  clear  prediction  of 
tl  -e  time,  and  the  obscure  intimation  of  the  blessings,  deceives 
only  the  wicked. 

If  Jesus  Christ  had  come  only  for  sanctification,  the  whole  of 
Scripture  and  all  things  would  tend  to  this  end,  and  it  would  be 
easy  to  convince  unbelievers.  If  Jesus  Christ  had  come  only 
to  blind,  all  his  conduct  would  be  confused,  and  we  should 
have  no  means  of  convincing  unbelievers.  But  as  he  came  in 
sanctificationem  ct  in  sc  and  alum  ^  as  says  Isaiah,  wre  cannot  con¬ 
vince  unbelievers,  and  they  cannot  convince  us  ;  but  by  that  very 
fact  we  overcome  them  because  we  say  that  there  is  nothing 
in  his  conduct  conclusive  on  one  side  or  the  other. 

Jesus  Christ  has  come  to  blind  those  who  saw  clearly,  and  to 
give  sight  to  the  blind  ;  to  heal  the  sick  and  let  the  sound  perish  ; 
to  call  sinners  to  repentance  and  justification,  and  leave  the  just 
in  their  sins  ;  to  fill  the  hungry  with  good  things  and  to  send  the 
rich  empty  away. 

We  can  have  nothing  but  veneration  for  a  man  who  clearly 
foretells  events  which  take  place,  and  who  declares  his  design  both 


OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 


217 


to  blind  and  to  enlighten,  and  who  mixes  obscurities  among  the 
clear  things  which  happen. 

During  the  life  of  the  Messiah. — sEnigmatis. — Ezek.  xvii.— 
His  forerunner.  Malachi  ii. 

He  will  be  born  an  infant.  Is.  ix.  6. 

He  will  be  born  at  Bethlehem.  Micah  v.  He  will  appear 
chiefly  in  Jerusalem,  and  will  spring  from  the  family  of  Judah 
and  of  David. 

He  will  blind  the  learned  and  the  wise,  Is.  vi.  8,  29,  and  preach 
the  Gospel  to  the  poor  and  the  lowly,  will  open  the  eyes  of  the 
blind,  restore  health  to  the  sick,  and  bring  light  to  those  who 
languish  in  darkness.  Is.  Ixi. 

He  must  show  the  perfect  way,  and  be  the  teacher  of  the 
Gentiles.  Is.  lv. 

The  prophecies  must  be  unintelligible  to  the  wicked,  Dan.  xii., 
Hos.  xiv.  10,  but  intelligible  to  those  who  are  well  instructed. 

He  must  be  the  precious  corner  stone.  Is.  xxviii.  16. 

He  must  be  the  stone  of  stumbling  and  offence.  Is.  viii. 

Jerusalem  must  dash  against  this  stone. 

The  builders  must  reject  this  stone.  Ps.  cxvii.  22. 

God  will  make  of  this  stone  the  head  of  the  corner. 

And  this  stone  will  grow  into  a  mountain,  and  fill  the  whole 
earth.  Dan.  ii. 

Thus  he  must  be  rejected,  disowned,  betrayed,  sold,  Zach.  xi. 
12,  spit  upon,  buffeted,  mocked,  afflicted  in  a  thousand  ways,  be 
given  gall  to  drink,  Ps.  lxviii.,  pierced,  Zach.  xii.,  his  feet  and 
his  hands  pierced,  killed,  and  lots  cast  upon  his  vesture. 

He  must  rise  again,  Ps.  xv.,  the  third  day.  Hos.  vi.  3. 

He  must  ascend  to  heaven  to  sit  on  the  right  hand.  Ps.  cx. 

The  kings  will  arm  themselves  against  him.  Ps.  ii. 

Being  on  the  right  hand  of  the  Father,  he  will  have  victory 
over  all  his  enemies. 

The  kings  of  the  earth,  and  all  nations  shall  worship  him. 
Is.  lx. 

The  Jews  will  remain  as  a  nation.  Jer. 

They  will  be  dispersed,  without  kings,  etc.,  Hos.  iii. ;  without 
prophets.  Amos ; 


218 


PROOFS  OF  THE  DIVINITY 


Waiting  for  salvation  and  finding  it  not.  Is. 

The  calling  of  the  Gentiles  by  Jesus  Christ.  Is.  lii.,  Ps.  lxxi. 

The  Jews  in  slaying  him  that  they  might  not  receive  the 
Messiah,  stamped  him  with  the  final  pi  oof  of  his  Messiahship. 

And  by  continuance  in  denial,  they  made  themselves  unim¬ 
peachable  witnesses  ;  and  in  slaying  him,  and  continuing  to 
reject  him,  they  have  fulfilled  the  prophecies. 

The  word  Galilee,  which  the  Jewish  rabble  pronounced  as  if 
by  chance,  in  their  accusation  of  Jesus  Christ  before  Pilate,  gave 
Pilate  a  reason  for  sending  Jesus  Christ  to  Herod,  so  that  the 
mystery  was  accomplished,  that  he  should  be  judged  by  Jews  and 
Gentiles.  Chance  was  apparently  the  cause  that  the  mystery 
was  accomplished. 

The  conversion  of  the  Gentiles  was  only  reserved  for  the  grace 
of  the  Messiah.  The  J ews  so  long  opposed  them  without  success  ; 
all  that  Solomon  and  the  prophets  had  said  was  useless.  Wise 
men  like  Plato  and  Socrates  could  not  persuade  them. 

If  this  was  so  clearly  foretold  to  the  Jews,  why  did  they  not 
believe  it,  or  why  were  they  not  exterminated  for  resisting  what 
was  so  clear  ? 

I  answer  first  :  it  was  foretold  both  that  they  would  not 
believe  what  was  so  clear,  and  that  they  would  not  be  exterminated. 
And  nothing  is  more  glorious  to  the  Messiah,  for  it  is  not  enough 
that  there  should  be  prophets,  they  must  be  kept  above  sus¬ 
picion.  Now,  etc. 

Had  the  Jews  been  all  converted  by  Jesus  Christ,  we  should 
have  none  but  doubtful  witnesses,  and  had  they  been  entirely 
destroyed  we  should  have  had  no  witnesses  at  all. 

The  Jews  rejected  him,  but  not  all.  The  saints  receive  him,  but 
not  carnal  men.  Yet  this  is  far  from  being  against  his  glory,  it 
is  the  last  stroke  which  perfects  it.  The  argument  on  their  side, 


OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 


219 


the  only  one  which  is  found  in  the  Talmud  and  the  rabbinical 
writings,  is  that  Jesus  Christ  has  not  subdued  the  nations  sword 
in  hand,  gladium  tuum ,  potcntissime.  Is  this  all  they  can 
allege  ?  Jesus  Christ  has  been  slain,  they  say,  he  was  subdued, 
he  has  not  had  dominion  over  the  heathen  by  his  power,  he  has 
not  distributed  the  spoil  among  us,  he  does  not  give  riches. 
Is  this  all  they  have  to  allege?  This  is  the  very  point  wherein 
he  seems  to  me  so  lovable.  I  would  none  of  such  an  one  as 
they  represent.  It  is  plain  that  his  life  only  hinders  them  from 
receiving  him,  by  their  refusal  they  become  irreproachable 
witnesses,  and  what  is  more,  they  thereby  fulfil  the  prophecies. 


There  are  those  who  see  clearly  that  man  has  no  other  enemy 
than  lust,  which  turns  him  from  God,  and  not  God,  and  that 
there  is  no  other  good  but  God,  not  a  fat  land.  Let  those  who 
believe  that  the  good  of  man  is  in  the  flesh,  and  evil  that  which 
turns  him  away  from  sensual  pleasures,  besot  themselves 
with  them  and  die  in  them.  But  those  who  seek  God  with  their 
whole  heart,  whose  only  ill  is  not  to  see  him,  whose  only  desire 
is  to  possess  him,  whose  only  enemies  are  those  who  would 
turn  them  from  him,  who  are  afflicted  when  they  are  surrounded 
and  overwhelmed  by  such  enemies,  may  take  comfort,  for  I  de¬ 
clare  to  them  this  joyful  news  :  there  is  for  them  a  Redeemer, 
whom  I  will  show  them  ;  I  will  show  them  that  there  is  for 
them  a  God,  and  I  will  not  show  him  to  others.  I  will  show 
them  that  a  Messiah  has  been  promised,  who  will  deliver  them 
from  their  enemies,  and  that  one  has  come  to  deliver  them  from 
their  iniquities,  not  from  their  enemies. 

It  is  a  wonderful  thing,  and  worthy  of  all  attention,  to  see  the 
Jewish  nation  existing  so  many  years  in  constant  misery,  it 
being  necessary  as  a  proof  of  Jesus  Christ,  both  that  they  should 
exist  to  be  his  witnesses,  and  should  be  miserable  because  they 
crucified  him,  and  though  to  be  miserable  and  to  exist,  are 
contradictory,  this  nation  still  exists  in  spite  of  its  misery. 


When  Nebuchadnezzar  carried  away  the  people,  for  fear  they 


220 


PA' OOFS  OF  THE  DIVINITY 


should  believe  that  the  sceptre  had  departed  from  Judah,  they 
were  assured  beforehand  that  they  would  be  but  a  short  time  in 
captivity,  and  would  be  restored. 

They  were  never  without  the  comfort  of  their  prophets,  or  the 
presence  of  their  kings.  But  the  second  destruction  is  without 
promise  of  restoration,  without  prophets,  without  kings,  without 
comfort,  without  hope,  for  the  sceptre  is  taken  away  for  ever. 


Proofs  of  fesns  Christ. — To  have  been  captive  with  the 
assurance  of  deliverance  in  seventy  years  was  no  true  captivity. 
But  now  they  are  captives  without  hope. 

God  has  promised  them  that  even  though  lie  should  disperse 
them  to  the  ends  of  the  earth,  nevertheless  if  they  were  faithful 
to  the  law  he  would  gather  them  together.  They  are  now  very 
faithful  to  it,  yet  remain  oppressed.  ' 

Blindness  of  Scripture. — The  Scripture,  say  the  Jews,  says  that 
we  know  not  whence  Christ  should  come. 

John  vii.  27  and  xii.  34. 

The  Scripture  says  that  Christ  abideth  for  ever,  and  he  said 
that  he  should  die.  Therefore,  says  Saint  John,  they  believed  him 
not,  though  he  had  done  so  many  miracles,  that  the  word  of 
Isaiah  might  be  fulfilled  :  He  hath  blinded  them,  etc. 

Contradict  ions. —  The  sceptre  until  Messiah  come.  Without 
king  or  prince. 

The  eternal  law,  changed. 

d  he  eternal  covenant,  a  new  covenant. 

The  good  law,  evil  precepts,  Ezekiel  xx. 

Apparent  discord  of  the  Evangelists. 

Proofs  of  fesits  Christ. 

Why  the  book  of  Ruth  was  preserved. 

Why  the  story  of  Tamar. 

The  genealogy  of  Jesus  Christ  in  the  Old  Testament  is 
intermixed  with  so  many  that  are  useless,  that  it  cannot  be 


OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 


221 


distinguished.  If  Moses  had  kept  only  the  register  of  the  ancestors 
of  Jesus  Christ,  that  had  been  too  plain.  If  he  had  not  marked 
that  of  Jesus  Christ,  it  had  not  been  plain  enough.  But  after  all, 
whoso  looks  closely  sees  that  of  Jesus  Christ  distinctly  traced 
through  Tamar,  Ruth,  etc. 

Jesus  Christ  in  an  obscurity — as  the  world  calls  obscurity — so 
great,  that  the  historians  who  wrote  only  the  important  matters 
of  States  hardly  perceived  him. 

On  the  fact  that  neither  Joseph  us ,  nor  Tacitus ,  nor  other  his¬ 
torians ,  have  spoken  of  Jesus  Christ. — So  far  from  this  being 
any  argument  against,  it  is  rather  one  for  us.  For  it  is  certain 
that  Jesus  Christ  has  existed,  that  his  religion  has  made  a  great 
noise,  and  that  these  people  were  not  ignorant  of  it  ;  thus 
it  is  plain  that  they  designedly  concealed  it,  or  perhaps  that 
they  did  speak  of  it,  and  what  they  said  has  been  suppressed  or 
altered. 

When  Augustus  learnt  that  Herod’s  own  son  was  among  the 
children  under  the  age  of  two  years  whom  he  had  commanded 
to  be  slain,  he  said  that  it  w'as  better  to  be  Herod’s  pig  than 
his  son.  Macrob.  Saturn.  Lib.  ii.,  c.  4. 

Macrobius,  on  the  Innocents  slain  by  Herod. 

Prophecies. — Great  Pan  is  dead. 

Herod  believed  to  be  the  Messiah.  He  had  taken  away  th*. 
sceptre  of  Judah,  but  he  was  not  of  Judah.  This  was  held  by 
a  considerable  sect. 

Both  Barcoseba  and  another  received  by  the  Jews.  And  the 
rumour  which  was  everywhere  in  those  times.  Suetonius, 
Tacitus,  Josephus. 

In  what  sort  should  Messiah  come,  seeing  that  by  him  the 
sceptre  should  be  eternally  in  Judah,  and  at  his  coming  the 
sceptre  should  depart  from  Judah? 

To  the  end  that  seeing  they  should  not  see,  and  under- 


222 


PROOFS  OF  THE  DIVINITY 


standing  they  should  not  understand,  nothing  could  be  better 
done. 

Curse  of  the  Greeks  against  those  who  count  periods  of  time. 

Proofs  of  Jesus  Christ. — Jesus  Christ  said  great  things  so 
simply  that  he  seems  not  to  have  considered  them,  and  yet  so 
tersely  that  it  is  clear  he  had  considered  them.  This  clearness 
joined  with  simplicity  is  wonderful. 

Who  taught  the  evangelists  the  qualities  of  an  entirely  heroic 
soul,  that  they  should  paint  it  so  perfectly  in  Jesus  Christ?  WThy 
did  they  describe  him  weak  in  his  agony?  Did  they  not  know 
how  to  paint  a  steadfast  death  ?  No  doubt  they  did,  for  the  same 
Saint  Luke  paints  the  death  of  Saint  Stephen  as  braver  than 
that  of  Jesus  Christ. 

They  describe  him  therefore  as  capable  of  fear  before  the  need 
of  dying  came,  and  then  wholly  strong. 

But  when  they  represent  him  as  so  afflicted,  it  is  when  he 
afflicts  himself,  and  when  men  afflict  him,  then  is  he  wholly 
strong. 


The  style  of  the  Gospel  is  wonderful  in  many  ways,  and  in  this 
among  others,  that  it  contains  no  invectives  against  the  execu¬ 
tioners  and  enemies  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  historians  do  not  rail 
against  Judas,  Pilate,  nor  any  of  the  Jews. 

If  this  modesty  of  the  evangelical  writers  had  been  simulated, 
as  well  as  many  other  traits  of  a  beautiful  character,  and  they 
had  only  simulated  it  to  attract  observation,  even  if  they  had 
not  dared  to  draw  attention  to  it  themselves,  they  would  not 
have  failed  to  procure  friends,  who  would  have  remarked  on 
it  to  their  advantage.  But  as  they  acted  thus  without  dissimu¬ 
lation,  and  from  perfectly  disinterested  motives,  they  pointed  it 
out  to  no  one,  and  I  believe  that  many  points  of  this  kind  have 
never  been  noticed  till  now,  which  is  an  evidence  of  how 
dispassionately  all  was  done. 


The  apostles  wTere  either  deceived  or  deceivers.  Both  hypo- 


OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  223 

theses  are  difficult ;  for  it  is  not  possible  to  mistake  a  man  raised 
from  the  dead  .  .  . 

While  Jesus  Christ  was  with  them,  his  presence  might  sustain 
them,  but  after  that,  what  gave  them  force  to  act  if  he  did  not 
appear  to  them  ? 

Proof  of  Jesus  Christ . — The  supposition  that  the  apostles  were 
deceivers  is  thoroughly  absurd.  Suppose  we  follow  it  out,  and 
imagine  these  twelve  men  assembled  after  the  death  of  Jesus 
Christ,  making  a  plot  to  say  that  he  was  risen  again.  By  this  they 
attack  all  earthly  powers.  The  heart  of  man  is  strangely  inclined 
to  fickleness  and  change,  swayed  by  promises  and  by  wealth. 
Had  one  of  these  men  contradicted  themselves  under  these 
temptations,  nay  more,  had  they  done  so  in  prison,  in  torture  and 
in  death,  they  were  lost.  Let  that  be  followed  out. 

Hypothesis  that  the  apostles  were  deceivers. 

The  time  clearly. 

The  manner  obscurely. 

Five  typical  proofs. 

1,600  prophets. 

2,000 

400  scattered. 

Atheists. — What  reason  have  they  to  say  it  is  not  possible  to 
rise  again  ?  Which  is  the  more  difficult,  to  be  born  or  to  rise 
again  ;  that  that  which  has  never  been  should  be,  or  that  what 
has  been  should  be  again  ?  Is  it  more  difficult  to  come  into 
being  than  to  return  to  it  ?  Habit  causes  the  one  to  seem  easy 
to  us,  the  want  of  habit  causes  the  other  to  seem  impossible. 
The  popular  way  of  judging. 

Why  should  not  a  virgin  bear  a  child?  does  not  a  hen  lay 
eggs  without  a  cock  ?  What  distinguishes  these  outwardly  from 
others  ?  and  who  has  told  us  that  the  hen  may  not  form  the 
germ  as  well  as  the  cock  ? 

What  have  they  to  say  against  the  resurrection,  or  against  the 
child-bearing  of  the  Virgin  ?  which  is  the  more  difficult  ;  to  pro- 


224  PROOFS  OF  THE  DIVINITY  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 


duce  a  man  or  an  animal,  or  to  reproduce  it  ?  And  if  they  had 
never  seen  any  species  of  animal,  could  they  guess  that  they 
were  not  produced  without  connection  with  each  other? 

How  I  hate  these  follies  of  not  believing  in  the  Eucharist,  etc 
.  .  .  If  the  Gospel  be  true,  if  Jesus  Christ  be  God,  what  diffi¬ 
culty  is  there  ? 

It  is  impiety  not  to  believe  in  the  Eucharist  on  the  ground 
that  we  do  not  see  it. 


THE  MISSION  AND  GREATNESS  OF 
JESUS  CHRIST. 


We  know  God  only  by  Jesus  Christ.  Without  this  mediator 
all  communion  with  God  is  taken  away,  by  Jesus  Christ  we 
know  God.  All  who  have  thought  to  know  God,  and  to  prove 
him  without  Jesus  Christ,  have  had  but  feeble  proofs.  But  for 
proof  of  Jesus  Christ  we  have  the  prophecies,  which  are  solid 
and  palpable  proofs.  And  these  prophecies,  accomplished  and 
proved  true  by  the  event,  mark  the  certainty  of  these  truths,  and 
consequently  the  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ.  In  him  then,  and  by 
him  we  know  God  ;  apart  from  him,  and  without  the  Scripture, 
without  original  sin,  without  a  necessary  mediator,  foretold  and 
come,  we  could  not  absolutely  prove  God,  nor  teach  sound 
doctrine  and  sound  morality.  But  by  Jesus  Christ,  and  in  Jesus 
Christ  we  prove  God  and  teach  morality  and  doctrine.  Jesus 
Christ  is  then  the  true  God  of  men. 

But  we  know  at  the  same  time  our  misery,  for  this  God  is 
none  other  than  he  who  repairs  our  misery.  Thus  we  can  only 
know  God  well  by  knowing  our  sins.  Therefore  those  who 
have  known  God  without  knowing  their  misery,  have  not  glori¬ 
fied  him,  but  have  glorified  themselves.  Quia  non  cognovit  per 
sapientiam ,  piacuit  Deo  per  siultitiam  prcedicationis  salvos 
facere. 

Not  only  do  we  know  God  by  Jesus  Christ  alone,  but  we  know 
ourselves  by  Jesus  Christ  alone.  We  know  life  and  death  by 
Jesus  Christ  alone.  Apart  from  Jesus  Christ  we  know  not  what 
is  our  life,  nor  our  death,  nor  God,  nor  ourselves. 

Thus  without  the  Scripture,  which  has  Jesus  Christ  alone  for 

Q 


226 


THE  MISSION  AND  GREATNESS 


its  object,  we  know  nothing,  and  see  only  obscurity  and  confusion 
in  the  nature  of  God,  and  in  our  own  nature. 

Without  Jesus  Christ  man  must  be  plunged  in  vice  and  misery ; 
with  Jesus  Christ  man  is  free  from  vice  and  misery,  in  him  is 
all  our  virtue  and  all  our  happiness.  Apart  from  him  is  nought 
but  vice  and  misery,  error  and  darkness,  death  and  despair. 

Without  Jesus  Christ  the  world  would  not  exist,  for  it  could 
only  be  either  destroyed,  or  a  very  hell. 

It  is  not  only  impossible  but  useless  to  know  God  without  Jesus 
Christ.  They  have  not  withdrawn  from  him,  but  drawn  near ; 
they  have  not  abased  themselves,  but  .  .  . 

Quo  quisque  optimus  est ,  pcssimjis ,  si  hoc  ip  sum ,  quod  sit 
optimus ,  as  crib  at  sibi. 

The  Gospel  only  speaks  of  the  virginity  of  the  Virgin  up  to 
the  time  of  the  birth  of  Jesus  Christ.  All  with  reference  to  Jesus 
Christ. 

Jesus  Christ,  whom  the  two  Testaments  regard,  the  Old  as  its 
end,  the  New  as  its  model,  both  as  their  centre. 

Scepticism  is  the  truth.  For,  after  all^Jnen  before  Jesus  Christ 
did  not  know  either  where  they  were  or  if  they  were  great  or 
little.  And  those  who  said  one  or  the  other  knew  nothing  about 
it,  and  guessed  without  reason  and  by  chance,  yet  they  always 
erred  in  excluding  one  or  the  other. 

Quod  c?go  ignorantes  queer  it  is,  Religio  annuntiat  vobis. 

If  Epictetus  had  seen  the  way  with  certainty  he  would  have 
said  to  men:  “You  follow  a  false  road”;  he  shows  that  there 
is  another,  but  he  does  not  lead  there  ;  it  is  the  way  of  willing 
what  God  wills  ;  Jesus  Christ  alone  leads  thither,  via ,  veritas. 

Jesus  Christ  did  nothing  but  teach  men  that  they  were  lovers 
of  themselves,  that  they  were  slaves,  blind,  sick,  miserable,  and 


OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 


227 


sinners,  that  he  would  deliver  them,  enlighten,  bless,  and 
heal  them,  that  this  would  be  brought  about  by  hatred  of  self, 
and  by  following  him  through  poverty  and  the  death  of  the 
cross. 


An  artizan  who  speaks  of  riches,  a  lawyer  who  speaks  of  war? 
or  of  kingship,  etc.,  but  the  rich  man  rightly  speaks  of  riches,  a 
king  speaks  slightingly  of  a  great  gift  he  has  just  made,  and  God 
rightly  speaks  of  God. 

Hosea  iii. 

Isaiah  xlii.,  xlviii.,  liv.,  lx.,  lxi.  The  last  verse.  I  have  foretold 
it  long  since,  that  they  might  know  that  it  is  I. 

Jaddus  to  Alexander. 


Man  is  not  worthy  of  God,  but  he  is  not  incapable  of  being 
rendered  worthy. 

It  is  unworthy  of  God  to  unite  himself  to  miserable  man, 
but  it  is  not  unworthy  of  God  to  raise  him  from  his  misery. 


The  infinite  distance  between  body  and  mind  is  a  figure  of  y 
the  infinitely  more  infinite  distance  between  mind  and  charity,  \ 
for  this  is  supernatural.  “ 

All  the  splendour  of  greatness  has  no  lustre  for  those  who 
seek  understanding. 

The  greatness  of  men  of  understanding  is  invisible  to  kings, 
to  the  rich,  to  conquerors,  and  to  all  the  great  according  to  the 
flesh. 

The  greatness  of  wisdom,  which  has  no  existence  save  in 
God,  is  invisible  to  the^carnal  and  to  men  of  understanding. 
These  are  three  orders/differing  in  kind. 

Men  of  great  genius  have  their  empire,  their  glory,  their 
grandeur,  their  victory,  their  lustre,  and  do  not  need  worldly 
greatness,  with  which  they  have  nothing  to  do.  They  are  seen, 
not  by  the  eye,  but  by  the  mind  ;  and  that  is  enough. 

The  saints  have  their  empire,  their  glory,  their  victory,  their 
lustre,  and  want  no  glory  of  the  flesh  or  of  the  mind,  with  which 
they  have  nothing  to  do,  for  these  add  nothing  to  them  neither 


/ 


228 


THE  MISSION  AND  GREATNESS 


do  they  take  away.  They  are  seen  of  God  and  the  angels,  and 
not  by  the  bodily  eye,  nor  by  the  curious  spirit ;  God  suffices  them. 

Archimedes  without  worldly  pomp  would  have  had  the  same 
reverence.  He  fought  no  battles  for  the  eye  to  gaze  on,  but 
he  left  his  discoveries  to  all  minds.  O  !  how  brilliant  was  he  to 
the  mind. 

Jesus  Christ,  without  riches,  and  without  any  exterior  mani¬ 
festation  of  science,  is  in  his  own  order  of  holiness.  He  gave 
forth  no  scientific  inventions  to  the  world,  he  never  reigned  ; 
but  he  was  humble,  patient,  holy  ;  holy  before  God,  terrible  to 
devils,  without  spot  of  sin.  O  !  in  what  great  pomp,  and  with 
what  transcendent  magnificence  did  he  come  to  the  eyes  of  the 
heart,  which  discern  wisdom. 

It  would  have  been  needless  for  Archimedes,  though  of  princely 
birth,  to  have  played  the  prince  in  his  books  on  geometry. 

It  would  have  been  needless  to  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  for  the 
purpose  of  shining  in  his  kingdom  of  holiness,  to  come  as  kings 
come  ;  but  he  did  come  in  the  glory  proper  to  his  order. 

It  is  most  unreasonable  to  be  offended  at  the  lowliness  of  Jesus 
Christ,  as  if  this  lowliness  were  in  the  same  order  as  was  the 
greatness  which  he  came  to  display.  Let  us  consider  this  great¬ 
ness  in  his  life,  in  his  passion,  in  his  obscurity,  in  his  death,  in 
the  choice  of  his  disciples,  in  their  desertion  of  him,  in  the 
secrecy  of  his  resurrection,  and  the  rest,  and  it  will  seem  so  vast 
as  to  give  no  room  for  offence  at  a  lowliness  in  another  order. 

But  there  are  those  who  can  only  admire  carnal  as  though 
there  were  no  mental  greatness,  and  others  who  only  admire 
mental  greatness,  as  though  there  were  not  infinitely  greater 
heights  in  wisdom. 

All  bodies,  the  firmament,  the  stars,  the  earth  and  the  king¬ 
doms  thereof,  are  not  comparable  to  the  lowest  mind,  for  mind 
knows  all  these,  and  itself ;  the  body  nothing. 

All  bodies  together  and  all  minds  together,  and  all  they  can 
effect,  are  not  worth  the  least  motion  of  charity.  This  is  of  an 
order  infinitely  more  exalted. 

From  all  bodies  together,  we  cannot  extract  one  little  thought : 
this  is  impossible  and  in  another  order.  From  all  bodies  and 
minds  it  is  impossible  to  produce  a  single  motion  of  true 


OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 


charity,  it  is  impossible,  it  is  in  another  and  a  supernatural 

Avrl  ot* 


The  Jews,  in  testing  if  he  were  God,  have  shown  that  he  was 
man. 

The  Church  has  had  as  much  difficulty  in  showing  that  Jesus 
Christ  was  man,  against  those  who  denied  it,  as  in  showing  that 
he  was  God.  And  the  evidences  were  equally  great. 

Jesus  Christ  is  a  God  to  whom  we  draw  near  without  pride, 
and  before  whom  we  abase  ourselves  without  despair. 

Jesus  Christ  for  all,  Moses  for  a  people. 

The  Jews  were  blessed  in  Abraham.  “  I  will  bless  those  that 
bless  thee.”  But  all  nations  are  blessed  in  his  seed. 

Parum  est  ut.  etc.  Isaiah. 

Lumen  ad  revelationem  gentium. 

Aon  fecit  taliter  omni  nationi ,  said  David  in  speaking  of  the 
Law.  But  in  speaking  of  Jesus  Christ  it  must  be  said  :  Fecit 
taliter  omni  nationi. 

So  it  is  the  property  of  Jesus  Christ  to  be  universal  ;  even  the 
Church  offers  the  sacrifice  only  for  the  faithful.  Jesus  Christ 
offered  that  of  the  cross  for  all. 

The  victory  over  death.  What  advantageth  it  a  man  that  he 
gain  the  whole  world  and  lose  his  own  soul  ?  He  that  will  save 
his  soul  shall  lose  it. 

I  am  not  come  to  destroy  the  law,  but  to  fulfil.  Lambs 
took  not  away  the  sins  of  the  world,  but  I  am  the  lamb  who  take 
away  sins.  Moses  gave  you  not  that  bread  from  heaven.  Moses 
has  not  led  you  out  of  captivity,  and  made  you  truly  free. 

Types. — Jesus  Christ  opened  their  mind  to  understand  the 
Scriptures. 

There  are  two  great  revelations. 

i.  All  things  happened  to  them  in  figures  :  vere  Israelites ,  vere 
liberi ,  true  bread  from  heaven. 


230  MISSION  AND  GREATNESS  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 

2.  A  God  humbled  to  the  cross.  It  was  necessary  that  Christ 
should  suffer  and  enter  into  glory,  that  he  should  conquer  death 
by  death.  Two  advents. 

The  types  of  the  completeness  of  redemption,  as  that  the 
sun  gives  light  to  all,  denote  only  completeness,  but  they  figu¬ 
ratively  imply  exclusions,  as  the  Jews  elected  to  the  exclusion  of 
the  Gentiles  denote  exclusion. 

Jesus  Christ  the  Redeemer  of  all. — Yes,  for  he  has  offered, 
like  a  man  who  has  ransomed  all  who  willed  to  come  to  him.  It 
is  the  misfortune  of  those  who  die  on  the  way,  but  as  far  as  he  is 
concerned,  he  offers  them  redemption. — That  holds  good  in  the 
example,  where  he  who  ransoms  and  he  who  hinders  from  dying 
are  two,  but  not  in  Jesus  Christ,  who 'does  both  one  and  the  other. 
— No,  for  Jesus  Christ  in  his  quality  of  Redeemer,  is  not  perhaps 
master  of  all,  and  thus  so  far  as  in  him  lies,  he  is  the  Redeemer 
of  all. 

Jesus  Christ  would  not  be  slain  without  the  forms  of  justice, 
for  it  is  much  more  ignominious  to  die  by  justice  than  by  an  un¬ 
just  sedition. 

The  elect  will  be  ignorant  of  their  virtues  and  the  reprobate  of 
the  greatness  of  their  crimes.  “  Lord,  when  saw  we  thee  an 
hungered  or  athirst  ?  ”  etc. 

Jesus  Christ  would  none  of  the  testimony  of  devils,  nor  of  those 
who  were  not  called,  but  of  God  and  John  the  Baptist. 

Jesus  Christ  says  not  that  he  is  not  of  Nazareth,  to  leave  the 
wicked  in  their  blindness  ;  nor  that  he  is  not  the  son  of  Joseph. 

The  calling  of  the  Gentiles  by  Jesus  Christ. 

The  ruin  of  the  Jews  and  heathen  by  Jesus  Christ. 


THE  MYSTERY  OF  JESUS. 


JESUS  suffered  in  his  passion  the  torments  which  men  inflicted 
on  him,  but  in  his  agony  he  suffered  torments  which  lie  inflicted 
on  himself :  tin'ba7'e  semetipsum.  This  is  a  suffering  from  no 
human,  but  an  almighty  hand,  and  he  who  bears  it  must  also 
be  almighty. 

Jesus  sought  some  comfort  at  least  in  his  three  dearest  friends, 
and  they  were  asleep.  He  prayed  them  to  watch  with  him 
awhile,  and  they  left  him  with  utter  carelessness,  having  so 
little  compassion  that  it  could  not  hinder  their  sleeping  even  for 
a  moment.  And  thus  Jesus  was  left  alone  to  the  wrath  of  God. 

Jesus  was  without  one  on  the  earth  not  merely  to  feel  and 
share  his  suffering,  but  even  to  know  of  it ;  he  and  heaven  were 
alone  in  that  knowledge. 

Jesus  was  in  a  garden,  not  of  delight  as  the  first  Adam,  in 
which  he  destroyed  himself  and  the  whole  human  race  ;  but  in 
one  of  agony,  in  which  he  saved  himself  and  the  whole  human 
race. 

He  suffered  this  sorrow  and  this  desertion  in  the  horror  of 
night. 

I  believe  that  Jesus  never  complained  but  on  this  single  occa¬ 
sion,  but  then  he  complained  as  if  he  could  no  longer  restrain 
his  extreme  sorrow.  “  My  soul  is  sorrowful,  even  unto  death.” 

Jesus  sought  companionship  and  consolation  from  men.  This 
was  the  only  time  in  his  life,  as  it  seems  to  me  ;  but  he  received 
it  not,  for  his  disciples  were  asleep. 

Jesus  will  be  in  agony  even  to  the  end  of  the  world.  We  must 
not  sleep  during  that  time. 

Jesus  in  the  midst  of  this  universal  desertion,  even  that  of  his 
own  friends  chosen  to  watch  with  him,  finding  them  asleep,  was 
vexed  because  of  the  danger  to  which  they  exposed,  not  him,  but 


232 


THE  MYSTERY  OF  JESUS. 


themselves  ;  he  warned  them  of  their  own  safety  and  of  their 
good,  with  a  heartfelt  tenderness  for  them  during  their  ingratitude, 
and  warned  them  that  the  spirit  is  willing  and  the  flesh  weak. 

Jesus,  finding  them  still  sleeping,  unrestrained  by  any  con¬ 
sideration  for  themselves  or  for  him,  had  the  tenderness  not  to 
wake  them  but  to  let  them  sleep  on. 

Jesus  prayed,  uncertain  of  the  will  of  his  Father,  and  feared 
death  ;  but  so  soon  as  he  knew  it  he  went  forward  to  offer  him¬ 
self  to  death  :  Eainiis.  Processit.  John. 

Jesus  asked  of  men,  and  was  not  heard. 

Jesus,  while  his  disciples  slept,  wrought  their  salvation.  He 
has  wrought  that  of  each  of  the  just  while  they  slept  both  in 
their  nothingness  before  their  birth,  and  in  their  sins  after  their 
birth. 

He  prayed  only  once  that  the  cup  should  pass  away,  and  then 
with  submission ;  but  twice  that  it  should  come  if  need  were. 

Jesus  was  weary. 

Jesus,  seeing  all  his  friends  asleep  and  all  his  enemies  wakeful, 
gave  himself  over  entirely  to  his  Father. 

Jesus  did  not  regard  in  Judas  his  enmity,  but  God’s  order, 
which  he  loves  and  admits,  since  he  calls  him  friend. 

Jesus  tore  himself  away  from  his  disciples  to  enter  into  his 
agony ;  we  must  tear  ourselves  from  our  nearest  and  dearest  to 
imitate  him. 

Jesus  being  in  agony  and  in  the  greatest  sorrow,  let  us  pray 
longer  .  .  . 

Console  thyself,  thou  wouldest  not  seek  me  hadst  thou  not 
found  me. 

I  thought  of  thee  in  mine  agony,  such  drops  of  blood  I  shed 
for  thee. 

It  is  tempting  me  rather  than  proving  thyself,  to  think  if  thou 
wouldest  act  well  in  a  case  which  has  not  occurred,  I  will  act 
in  thee  if  it  occur. 

• 

Let  my  rules  guide  thy  conduct ;  see  how  I  have  led  the  Virgin 
and  the  saints  who  have  let  me  act  in  them. 

The  Father  loves  all  that  I  do. 

Must  I  ever  shed  the  blood  of  my  humanity  and  thou  give 
no  tears  ? 


THE  MYSTERY  OF  JESUS.  233 

Thy  conversion  is  my  affair  ;  fear  not  and  pray  with  confi¬ 
dence  as  for  me. 

I  am  present  with  thee  by  my  word  in  the  Scriptures,  by  my 
Spirit  in  the  Church  and  by  inspiration,  by  my  power  in  the 
priest,  by  my  prayer  in  the  faithful. 

Physicians  will  not  heal  thee,  for  thou  wilt  die  at  last.  But  it 
is  I  who  heal  thee  and  make  the  body  immortal. 

Suffer  chains  and  bodily  servitude,  I  deliver  thee  now  only 
from  what  is  spiritual. 

1  am  to  thee  more  a  friend  than  such  or  such  an  one,  for  I  have 
done  for  thee  more  than  they  ;  they  have  not  borne  what  I  have 
borne  from  thee,  they  have  not  died  for  thee  as  I  have  done  in 
the  time  of  thine  infidelities  and  thy  cruelties,  and  as  I  am  ready 
to  do  and  do  in  my  elect  and  at  the  Holy  Sacrament. 

If  thou  knewest  thy  sins  thou  wouldest  lose  heart. — I  shall  lose 
it  then  O  Lord,  for  on  thy  word  I  believe  their  malice. — No, 
for  I  by  whom  thou  learnest  it  can  heal  thee  of  them,  and  what 
I  tell  thee  is  a  sign  that  I  will  heal  thee.  As  thou  dost  expiate 
them,  thou  wilt  know  them,  and  it  will  be  said  to  thee  :  “  Behold, 
thy  sins  are  forgiven  thee  !  ” 

Repent  then  for  thy  secret  sins,  and  for  the  hidden  malice  of 
those  which  thou  knowest. 

Lord,  I  give  thee  all.— 

I  love  thee  more  ardently  than  thou  hast  loved  thine  unclean¬ 
nesses,  ut  immundus  pro  Into. 

To  me  be  the  glory,  not  to  thee,  thou  worm  of  earth. 

Ask  thy  director,  when  my  own  words  are  to  thee  occasion  of 
evil,  or  vanity,  or  curiosity. 

I  see  the  depths  which  are  in  me  of  pride,  curiosity  and  lust. 
There  is  no  relation  between  me  and  God,  nor  Jesus  Christ  the 
Just  One.  But  he  has  been  made  sin  for  me,  all  thy  scourges 
are  fallen  upon  him.  He  is  more  abominable  than  I,  and  far 
from  abhorring  me  he  holds  himself  honoured  that  I  go  to  him 
and  succour  him. 

But  he  has  healed  himself,  and  still  more  will  he  heal  me. 

I  must  add  my  wounds  to  his,  and  join  me  to  him,  and  he  will 
save  me  in  saving  himself. 

But  this  must  not  be  put  off  to  a  future  day. 


234 


THE  MYSTERY  OF  JESUS. 


Do  little  things  as  though  they  were  great,  because  of  the 
majesty  of  Jesus  Christ  who  does  them  in  us,  and  who  lives  our 
life  ;  do  great  things  as  though  they  were  small  and  easy,  be¬ 
cause  of  his  omnipotence. 

The  Sepulchre  of  Jesus  Christ. — Jesus  Christ  was  dead,  but 
seen  on  the  Cross.  He  was  dead,  and  hidden  in  the  sepulchre. 

Jesus  Christ  was  buried  by  the  saints  alone. 

Jesus  Christ  worked  no  miracles  at  the  sepulchre. 

Only  the  saints  entered  it. 

There,  not  on  the  Cross,  Jesus  Christ  took  a  new  life. 

It  is  the  last  mystery  of  the  passion  and  the  redemption. 

Jesus  Christ  had  no  where  to  rest  on  earth  but  in  the 
sepulchre. 

His  enemies  only  ceased  to  persecute  him  at  the  sepulchre. 

I  consider  Jesus  Christ  in  all  persons  and  in  ourselves.  Jesus 
Christ  as  a  father  in  his  father,  Jesus  Christ  as  a  brother  in  his 
brethren,  Jesus  Christ  as  poor  in  the  poor,  Jesus  Christ  as  rich 
in  the  rich,  Jesus  Christ  as  doctor  and  priest  in  priests,  Jesus 
Christ  as  sovereign  in  princes,  etc.  For  by  his  glory  he  is  all  that 
is  great,  since  he  is  God  ;  and  he  is  by  his  mortal  life  all  that  is 
miserable  and  abject.  Therefore  he  has  taken  this  wretched 
state,  to  enable  him  to  be  in  all  persons,  and  the  model  of 
all  conditions. 

The  false  justice  of  Pilate  only  caused  the  suffering  of  Jesus 
Christ ;  for  he  caused  him  to  be  scourged  by  his  false  justice, 
and  then  slew  him.  It  would  have  been  better  that  he  had  slain 
him  at  first.  Thus  is  it  with  those  who  are  falsely  just.  They  do 
good  works  or  evil  to  please  the  world,  and  show  that  they  are 
not  altogether  of  Jesus  Christ,  for  they  are  ashamed  of  him. 
Then  at  last  in  great  temptations  and  on  great  occasions,  they 
slay  him. 

It  seems  to  me  that  Jesus  Christ  after  his  resurrection  allowed 
his  wounds  only  to  be  touched  :  Noli  me  tangere.  We  must 
unite  ourselves  to  his  sufferings  only. 

At  the  Last  Supper  he  gave  himself  in  communion  as  one 


THE  MYSTERY  OF  JESUS.  235 

about  to  die ;  to  the  disciples  at  Emmaus  as  one  risen  from 
the  dead ;  to  the  whole  Church  as  one  ascended  into  heaven. 

Compare  not  thyself  with  others,  but  with  me.  If  thou 
findest  me  not  in  those  with  whom  thou  comparest  thyself,  thou 
comparest  thyself  with  him  that  is  abominable.  If  thou  findest 
me  there  compare  thyself  to  me.  But  who  is  it  that  thou  dost 
compare?  Thyself,  or  me  in  thee?  If  it  be  thyself  it  is  one 
that  is  abominable  ;  if  it  be  me  thou  comparest  me  to  myself. 
Now  I  am  God  in  all. 

I  speak  and  often  counsel  thee  because  thy  Guardian  can  not 
speak  to  thee,  for  I  will  not  that  thou  shouldest  lack  a  guide. 

And  perhaps  I  do  so  at  his  prayers,  and  thus  he  leads  thee 
without  thy  seeing  it. 

Thou  wouldest  not  seek  me  unless  thou  didst  possess  me. 

Therefore  be  not  troubled. 

Be  comforted ;  it  is  not  from  yourself  that  you  must  expect  it ; 
but  on  the  contrary,  expecting  nothing  from  yourself,  you  must 
await  it. 

Pray  that  ye  enter  not  into  temptation.  It  is  dangerous  to  be 
tempted,  and  those  alone  are  tempted  who  do  not  pray. 

Et  tic  conversus  conjirma  fratres  tuos.  But  before,  conversus 
Jesus  respexit  Pet  ruin. 

Saint  Peter  asked  permission  to  strike  Malchus,  and  struck 
before  having  the  answer  ;  Jesus  Christ  answered  afterwards. 

I  love  poverty  because  he  loved  it.  I  love  wealth  because  it 
gives  the  power  of  helping  the  miserable.  I  keep  my  troth  to 
everyone  ;  rendering  not  evil  to  those  who  do  me  wrong  ;  but 
I  wish  them  a  lot  like  mine,  in  which  I  receive  neither  good 
nor  evil  from  men.  I  try  to  be  just,  true,  sincere,  and  faithful 
to  all  men  ;  I  have  a  tender  heart  for  those  to  whom  God  has 
more  closely  bound  me  ;  and  whether  I  am  alone  or  seen  of 
men  I  place  all  my  actions  in  the  sight  of  God,  who  shall  judge 
them,  and  to  whom  I  have  consecrated  them  all. 

Such  are  my  opinions,  and  each  day  of  my  life  I  bless  my 


2^6 


THE  MYSTERY  OF  JESUS. 


Redeemer  who  lias  implanted  them  in  me,  who  has  transformed 
me,  a  man  full  of  weakness,  misery,  and  lust,  of  pride  and 
ambition,  into  a  man  exempt  from  all  these  evils,  by  the  power 
of  his  grace,  to  which  all  the  glory  is  due;  since  of  myself  I  have 
only  misery  and  sin. 


OF  THE  TRUE  RIGHTEOUS  MAN  AND 
OF  THE  TRUE  CHRISTIAN. 


Members.  To  begin  with  that.— To  regulate  the  love  which  we 
owe  to  ourselves,  we  must  imagine  a  body  full  of  thinking  mem¬ 
bers,  for  we  are  members  of  the  whole,  and  see  how  each 
member  should  love  itself,  etc  .  .  . 

If  the  feet  and  the  hands  had  each  a  separate  will  they  could 
only  be  in  their  order  in  submitting  this  separate  will  to  the 
primary  will  which  governs  the  whole  body.  Apart  from  that 
they  are  in  disorder  and  misfortune,  but  in  willing  only  the  good 
of  the  body  they  find  their  own  good. 

Morality.— God  having  made  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  which 
cannot  feel  the  happiness  of  their  being,  he  has  been  pleased  to 
make  beings  who  should  know  it,  and  who  should  compose  a 
body  of  thinking  members.  For  our  members  do  not  feel  the 
happiness  of  their  union,  of  their  admirable  intelligence,  of  the 
care  which  nature  has  taken  to  infuse  into  them  a  mind,  and  to 
make  them  grow  and  endure.  How  happy  would  they  be  if  they 
could  see  and  feel  it.  But  in  order  to  this  they  must  needs  have 
intelligence  to  know  it,  and  good  will  to  consent  to  that  of  the 
universal  soul.  For  if,  having  received  intelligence,  they  used  it 
to  retain  nourishment  for  themselves  without  allowing  it  to  pass 
to  the  other  members,  they  would  be  not  only  unjust  but  also 
miserable,  and  would  hate  rather  than  love  themselves,  their 
blessedness  as  well  as  their  duty  consisting  in  their  consent  to 
the  guidance  of  the  general  soul  to  which  they  belong,  who  loves 
them  better  than  they  love  themselves. 

To  be  a  member,  is  to  have  neither  life,  being,  nor  movement 


OF  THE  TRUE  RIGHTEOUS  MAN 

save  by  the  spirit  of  the  body,  and  for  the  body ;  the  separate 
member,  seeing  no  longer  the  body  to  which  it  belongs,  has 
only  a  waning  and  dying  existence.  Yet  it  believes  it  is  a  whole, 
and  seeing  not  the  body  on  which  it  depends,  it  believes  it 
depends  only  on  self  and  wills  to  constitute  itself  both  centre  and 
body.  But  not  having  in  itself  a  principle  of  life,  it  only  goes 
astray,  and  is  astonished  in  the  uncertainty  of  its  being ;  fully 
aware  that  it  is  not  a  body,  yet  not  seeing  that  it  is  a  member 
of  a  body.  Then  when  at  last  it  arrives  at  the  knowledge  of 
self,  it  has  ictuined  as  it  were  to  its  own  home,  and  loves  itself 

only  for  the  body’s  sake,  bewailing  that  in  the  past  it  has  gone 
astray. 

It  cannot  by  its  nature  love  aught  else,  if  not  for  itself  and  to 
subject  it  to  self,  since  each  thing  loves  itself  above  all.  But  in 
loving  the  body  it  loves  itself,  because  it  has  no  being  but  in  it, 
by  it,  and  for  it.  (Qui  adhcerct  Deo  wius  spiritus  est. 

The  body  loves  the  hand,  and  the  hand,  if  it  had  a  will,  should 
love  itself  in  the  same  proportion  as  that  in  which  it  is  loved  by 
the  soul.  All  love  beyond  this  is  unjust. 

Adh<z7'ens  Deo  unus  spirituscst.  We  love  ourselves  because 
we  are  members  of  Jesus  Christ.  We  love  Jesus  Christ  because 
he  is  the  body  of  which  we  are  members.  All  is  one,  one  is  in 
the  other,  like  the  Three  Persons. 

The  examples  of  the  noble  deaths  of  the  Lacedaemonians  and 
others  scarce  touch  us,  for  what  good  do  they  to  us  ?  But  the 
example  of  the  death  of  the  martyrs  touches  us,  for  they  are  our 
members.  WTe  have  a  common  tie  with  them,  their  resolution 
can  form  ours,  not  only  by  example,  but  because  it  has  perhaps 
merited  ours.  There  is  nothing  of  this  in  the  examples  of  the 
heathen  ;  there  is  no  bond  between  us.  As  we  do  not  become 
rich  by  seeing  a  rich  stranger,  but  by  seeing  a  father  or  a  hus¬ 
band  who  is  so. 

We  must  love  God  only,  and  hate  self  only. 

If  the  foot  had  always  been  ignorant  that  it  belonged  to  the 
body,  and  that  there  was  a  body  on  which  it  depended,  if  it  had 
only  had  the  knowledge  and  the  love  of  self,  and  if  it  came  to 


AND  OF  THE  TRUE  CHRISTIAN. 


239 


know  that  it  belonged  to  a  body  on  which  it  depended,  what  re¬ 
gret,  what  confusion  for  the  past  life,  for  having  been  useless  to 
the  body  from  which  its  whole  life  was  derived,  which  would  have 
reduced  it  to  nothing  if  it  had  rejected  it  and  separated  it  from 
itself,  as  it  held  itself  apart  from  the  body.  What  prayers  for  its 
preservation  in  the  body,  with  what  submission  would  it  allow 
itself  to  be  governed  according  to  the  will  which  rules  the  body, 
even  to  consent,  if  need  be,  that  it  should  be  cut  off,  or  it  would 
lose  its  character  of  member.  For  each  member  must  be 
content  to  perish  for  the  body,  for  which  alone  the  whole  exists. 

To  ensure  the  happiness  of  the  members,  they  must  have  one 
will,  and  submit  it  to  the  body. 

It  is  false  that  we  are  worthy  of  the  love  of  others,  it  is  unjust 
that  we  should  desire  it.  If  we  were  born  reasonable  and  im¬ 
partial,  knowing  ourselves  and  others,  we  should  not  give  this 
bias  to  our  will.  But  we  are  born  with  it ;  we  are  therefore 
born  unjust,  for  all  tends  to  self.  This  is  contrary  to  all  order. 
We  should  look  to  the  general  advantage,  and  the  inclination  to 
self  is  the  beginning  of  all  disorder,  in  war,  in  politics,  in 
economy,  and  in  man’s  own  body. 

The  will  therefore  is  depraved.  I  f  the  members  of  natural  and 
civil  communities  tend  towards  the  well-being  of  the  body,  the 
communities  themselves  should  tend  to  the  welfare  of  another 
more  general  body  of  which  they  are  members.  We  should 
therefore  look  to  the  whole.  We  are  therefore  born  unjust  and 
depraved. 

He  who  hates  not  in  himself  his  self-love,  and  that  instinct 
which  leads  him  to  make  himself  a  God,  is  indeed  blinded.  All 
must  see  that  nothing  is  so  opposed  to  justice  and  truth.  For 
it  is  false  that  we  deserve  this,  and  it  is  unjust  and  impossible 
to  attain  it,  since  all  demand  the  same.  Manifestly  then  injus¬ 
tice  is  innate  in  us,  from  which  we  cannot  free  ourselves,  yet 
from  which  we  ought  to  free  ourselves. 

But  no  religion  has  pointed  out  that  this  is  a  sin,  or  that 
we  are  born  in  it,  or  that  we  are  bound  to  resist  it,  or  has  thought 
of  offering  us  a  cure. 


240 


OF  THE  TRUE  RIGHTEOUS  MAN 


It  is  unjust  that  any  should  attach  themselves  to  me,  even 
though  they  do  it  with  pleasure,  and  voluntarily.  I  should 
deceive  those  in  whom  I  aroused  this  desire,  for  I  am  not  the 
final  end  of  any,  nor  have  I  that  which  can  satisfy  them.  Am  I 
not  about  to  die?  And  thus  the  object  of  their  attachment  will 
die.  Thus  as  it  would  be  blameworthy  in  me  to  cause  a  false¬ 
hood  to  be  believed,  though  I  should  gently  insinuate  it,  though 
it  should  be  believed  with  pleasure,  and  though  it  should  give  me 
pleasure;  in  like  manner  it  is  blameworthy  in  me  if  I  make 
myself  beloved,  and  if  I  draw  persons  to  attach  themselves  to 
me.  I  ought  to  warn  those  who  are  ready  to  consent  to  a  lie,  that 
they  should  not  believe  it,  whatever  advantage  accrues  to  me 
from  it ;  and  in  the  same  way  that  they  should  not  attach  them¬ 
selves  to  me  ;  for  they  ought  to  spend  their  life  and  their  pains 
in  pleasing  God,  or  in  seeking  him. 

Self-will  never  will  be  satisfied,  though  it  should  have  power 
for  all  it  would ;  but  we  are  satisfied  from  the  moment  we 
renounce  it.  Without  it  we  cannot  be  discontented,  with  it 
we  cannot  be  content. 

To  hate  self,  and  to  seek  a  truly  lovable  being  to  love,  is  there¬ 
fore  the  true  and  only  virtue,  for  we  are  hateful  because  of  lust. 
But  as  we  cannot  love  what  is  outside  us,  we  must  love  a  bein<r 
which  is  in  us,  yet  not  ourselves,  and  that  is  true  of  each  and  all 
men.  Now  the  universal  Being  is  alone  such.  The  Kingdom  of 
God  is  within  us ;  the  universal  good  is  within  us,  is  our  very 
selves,  yet  not  ourselves. 

If  there  be  a  God  we  ought  to  love  him  alone,  and  not  the 
creatures  of  a  day.  The  reasoning  of  the  wicked  in  the  Book  of 
Wisdom  is  only  founded  on  the  non-existence  of  God.  “  Given 
that  there  is  no  God,”  say  they,  “  let  us  take  delight  in  the 
creature.  It  is  because  there  is  nothing  better.”  But  were  there 
a  God  to  love  they  would  not  have  come  to  this  conclusion,  but 
to  the  contrary.  And  this  is  the  conclusion  of  the  wise  :  “There 
is  a  God,  therefore  we  ought  not  to  take  delight  in  the  creature.” 

Therefore  all  that  leads  us  to  attach  ourselves  to  the  creature 


AND  OF  THE  TRUE  CHRISTIAN. 


241 


is  evil,  because  it  hinders  us  from  serving  God  if  we  know  him, 
and  from  seeking  him  if  we  know  him  not.  Now  we  are  full  of 
lust.  Therefore  we  are  full  of  evil,  therefore  we  should  hate  our¬ 
selves  and  all  which  urges  us  to  attach  ourselves  to  aught  but 
God  only. 

That  we  must  love  one  God  only  is  a  thing  so  plain,  that  no 
miracles  are  needed  to  prove  it. 

That  is  a  good  state  of  the  Church  in  which  it  is  upheld  by 
God  alone. 

Two  laws  suffice  to  regulate  the  whole  Christian  republic  better 
than  all  political  laws. 

Against  those  who  trusting  in  the  mercy  of  God  live  carelessly , 
without  doing  good  works. — As  the  two  sources  of  our  sins  are 
pride  and  indolence,  God  has  revealed  to  us  two  of  his  attri¬ 
butes  for  their  cure,  mercy  and  justice.  The  property  of  justice 
is  to  abase  our  pride,  however  holy  may  be  our  works,  et  non 
intres  in  judicium ,  etc.  ;  and  the  property  of  mercy  is  to 
combat  indolence  by  exciting  to  good  works,  according  to  that 
passage:  “The  goodness  of  God  leads  to  repentance,”  and 
that  other  of  the  Ninevites  :  “Let  us  do  penance  to  see  if  per- 
adventure  he  will  pity  us.”  Thus  mercy  is  so  far  from  autho¬ 
rising  slackness,  that  it  is  on  the  contrary  the  quality  which 
formally  assails  it,  so  that  instead  of  saying  :  “  Were  there  not 
mercy  in  God,  we  must  make  every  effort  after  virtue,”  we  should 
say,  on  the  contrary,  that  because  there  is  mercy  in  God  we  must 
make  every  effort. 

The  world  exists  for  the  exercise  of  mercy  and  judgment,  not 
as  if  men  were  in  it  as  they  came  from  the  hands  of  God,  but 
as  the  enemies  of  God,  to  whom  he  gives  by  grace  light  enough  to 
return,  if  they  will  seek  him  and  follow  him,  and  to  punish  them, 
if  they  refuse  to  seek  him  and  follow  him. 

We  implore  the  mercy  of  God,  not  that  he  may  leave  us  in 
peace  in  our  vices,  but  that  he  may  free  us  from  them. 

R 


242 


OF  THE  TRUE  RIGHTEOUS  MAN 


There  are  but  two  kinds  of  men,  the  righteous,  who  believe 
themselves  sinners,  and  sinners,  who  believe  themselves  righteous. 


There  are  two  kinds  of  men  in  each  religion. — Among  the 
heathen,  worshippers  of  beasts,  and  the  worshippers  of  the  one 
God  revealed  by  natural  religion. 

Among  the  Jews,  the  carnal  and  the  spiritual,  who  were  the 
Christians  of  the  old  law. 

Among  the  Christians,  those  coarser  ones,  who  are  the  Jews  of 
the  new  law. 

The  carnal  Jews  looked  for  a  carnal  Messiah,  and  the  coarser 
Christians  believe  that  the  Messiah  has  dispensed  them  from  the 
love  of  God.  True  Jews  and  true  Christians  adore  a  Messiah 
who  makes  them  love  God. 


Carnal  Jews  and  the  heathen  have  their  miseries,  and  Chris¬ 
tians  also.  There  is  no  Redeemer  for  the  heathen,  for  they  do 
not  even  hope  for  one.  There  is  no  Redeemer  for  the  Jews, 
who  hope  for  him  in  vain.  There  is  a  Redeemer  only  for  the 
Christians. 

The  lust  of  the  flesh,  the  lust  of  the  eyes,  pride,  etc. 

There  are  three  orders  of  things  :  the  flesh,  the  spirit,  and  the 
will. 

The  carnal  are  the  rich  and  kings,  who  have  the  body  as  their 
object. 

Enquirers  and  men  of  science,  who  have  mind  for  their  object. 

The  wise,  who  have  right  for  their  object. 

God  must  reign  over  all,  and  all  must  be  referred  to  him.  In 
things  of  the  flesh  lust  reigns  especially,  in  men  of  intellect 
curiosity  especially,  in  wisdom  pride  especially. 

Not  that  a  man  may  not  boast  of  wealth  or  knowledge,  but 
there  is  no  room  for  pride,  for  in  granting  that  a  man  is  learned 
there  will  be  no  difficulty  in  proving  to  him  that  he  is  wrong  to 
be  proud.  Pride  finds  its  proper  place  in  wisdom,  for  it  cannot 
be  granted  to  a  man  that  he  has  made  himself  wise  and  that  he 


243 


AND  OF  THE  TRUE  CHRISTIAN. 

is  wrong  to  be  proud  of  it.  For  that  is  just.  Now  God  alone 
gives  wisdom,  and  therefore ' qui gloriatur  in  Domino,  glorietur 

All  that  is  in  the  world  is  the  lust  of  the  flesh,  the  lust  of  the 
eyes,  or  the  pride  of  life  ;  libido  sentiendi,  libido  sciendi,  libido 
dominandi.  Woe  to  the  accursed  land  which  these  three  rivers 
of  flame  enkindle  rather  than  moisten.  Happy  they  who  are 
on  these  rivers,  not  overwhelmed  nor  carried  away,  but  immo¬ 
vably  fixed  upon  the  floods,  not  standing,  but  seated,  and  on  a 
firm  and  sure  base,  whence  they  rise  not  before  the  dawn ;  but 
where,  having  rested  in  peace,  they  stretch  forth  their  hands 
to  him  who  will  lift  them  up,  and  cause  them  to  stand  firm  and 
upright  in  the  porches  of  the  heavenly  Jerusalem,  where  pride 
may  no  more  assail  nor  cast  them  down  ;  and  who  yet  weep,  not 
to  see  all  those  perishable  things  crumble  which  the  torrents 
sweep  away,  but  at  the  remembrance  of  their  dear  country,  that 
heavenly  Jerusalem,  which  they  remember  without  ceasing  while 
the  days  of  their  exile  are  prolonged. 

The  rivers  of  Babylon  rush  and  fall  and  sweep  away. 

O  holy  Sion,  where  all  is  firm  and  nothing  falls. 

We  must  sit  upon  the  floods,  not  under  them  or  in  them,  but 
on  them  ;  not  standing  but  seated,  being  seated  to  be  humble, 
and  above  them  in  security.  But  in  the  porches  of  Jerusalem 
we  shall  stand. 

Let  us  see  if  our  pleasure  is  stable  or  transitory,  if  it  pass  away, 
it  is  a  river  of  Babylon. 

There  are  few  true  Christians,  I  say  this  even  in  regard  to  faith. 
There  are  many  who  believe,  but  from  superstition.  There  are 
many  who  believe  not,  out  of  reckless  living ;  few  are  between 
the  two. 

I  do  not  include  here  those  whose  morality  is  true  holiness, 
nor  those  whose  belief  springs  from  the  heart. 

It  is  not  a  rare  thing  to  have  to  blame  the  world  for  too  much 
docility,  it  is  a  vice  as  natural  as  unbelief,  and  as  pernicious. 
Superstition. 


244 


OF  THE  TRUE  RIGHTEOUS  MAN 


Abraham  took  nothing  for  himself,  but  only  for  his  seivants  ; 
so  the  just  man  takes  for  himself  nothing  of  the  world,  nor  of  the 
applause  of  the  world,  but  only  for  his  passions,  which  he  uses  as 
their  master,  saying  to  the  one,  ‘  Go/  and  to  another,  1  Come. 
Sub  te  erit  appetitus  tuns.  The  passions  thus  subdued  are  virtues. 
God  himself  attributes  to  himself  avarice,  jealousy,  anger ;  and 
these  are  virtues  as  well  as  kindness,  pity,  constancy,  which  are 
also  passions.  We  must  treat  them  as  slaves,  and  leaving  to 
them  their  food  hinder  the  soul  from  taking  any  of  it.  For 
when  the  passions  gain  the  mastery  they  are  vices,  then  they 
furnish  nutriment  to  the  soul,  and  the  soul  feeds  on  it  and  is 
poisoned. 

The  just  man  acts  by  faith  in  the  smallest  things  ;  when  he 
blames  his  servants,  he  wishes  for  their  conversion  by  the  spirit 
of  God,  and  prays  God  to  correct  them  ;  for  he  expects  as  much 
from  God  as  from  his  own  blame,  and  he  prays  God  to  bless  his 
corrections.  And  so  with  all  his  other  actions. 

Of  all  that  is  in  the  world  he  takes  part  only  in  what  is  un¬ 
pleasant,  not  in  what  is  pleasant.  He  loves  his  neighbours,  but 
his  charity  does  not  restrict  itself  within  these  bounds,  but 
flows  out  to  his  enemies,  and  then  to  those  of  God. 

This  is  common  to  ordinary  life  and  that  of  the  saints,  that 
all  endeavour  after  happiness,  and  differ  only  in  the  object  in 
which  they  place  it.  Both  call  those  their  enemies  who  hinder 
them  from  attaining  it. 

We  should  judge  of  what  is  good  or  bad  by  the  will  of  God, 
who  cannot  be  either  unjust  or  blind  ;  and  not  by  our  own  will, 
which  is  always  full  of  malice  and  error. 

Joh.  viii.  Multi  crediderunt  in  eum,  Dicebat  ergo  Jesus  :  “  Si 
manseritis  .  .  .,  vere  mihi  discipuli  eritis,  et  veritas  liber abit 
vos I  Respondents :  Semen  Abrahae  suntus  et  nemini  servimus 
unquam. 

There  is  a  great  difference  between  disciples  and  true  disciples. 


AND  OF  THE  TRUE  CHRISTIAN. 


245 


They  are  recognised  by  saying  to  them  that  the  truth  will 
make  them  free  ;  for  if  they  answer  that  they  are  free,  and  that 
it  is  in  their  power  to  come  out  of  slavery  to  the  devil,  they 
are  indeed  disciples,  but  not  true  disciples. 

“  Might  I  but  see  a  miracle,”  men  say,  “  I  would  become  a 
Christian.”  How  can  they  be  sure  they  would  do  that  of  which 
they  are  ignorant  ?  Men  imagine  that  conversion  consists  in 
making  of  the  worship  of  God  such  a  transaction  and  way  of 
life  as  they  picture  to  themselves.  True  conversion  consists  in 
the  annihilation  of  self  before  that  universal  Being  whom  we  have 
so  often  provoked,  and  who  might  with  justice  destroy  us  at  any 
moment  ;  in  recognising  that  we  can  do  nought  without  him, 
'and  have  merited  nothing  from  him  but  his  wrath.  It  consists 
in  knowing  that  there  is  unconquerable  opposition  between  us 
and  God,  and  that  without  a  mediator  there  could  be  no  com¬ 
munion  with  him. 

Comminutum  cor.  Saint  Paul.  There  is  the  Christian  cha¬ 
racter.  Albe  vous  a  nomine, ,  je  ne  volts  connais  plus.  Corneille. 
That  is  the  inhuman  character.  The  human  character  is  the 
contrary. 

With  how  little  pride  a  Christian  believes  himself  united  to 
God,  with  how  little  abasement  does  he  rank  himself  with  the 
worms  of  earth.  What  a  way  is  this  to  receive  life  and  death, 
good  and  evil. 

It  is  true  there  is  difficulty  in  entering  into  a  devout  life,  but  this 
difficulty  does  not  arise  from  the  religion  which  begins  in  us,  but 
from  the  irreligion  which  is  still  there.  If  our  senses  were  not 
opposed  to  penitence,  and  if  our  corruption  wrere  not  opposed  to 
the  purity  of  God,  there  would  be  nothing  in  this  painful  to  us. 
We  suffer  only  in  proportion  as  the  vice  which  is  natural  to 
us  resists  supernatural  grace ;  our  heart  feels  torn  asunder  by 
these  conflicting  efforts,  but  it  would  be  most  unjust  to  impute 
this  violence  to  God,  who  draws  us,  instead  of  attributing  it  to 
the  world,  which  holds  us  back.  As  a  child  which  a  mother 
tears  from  the  robbers’  arms,  in  the  anguish  it  suffers  should 


246 


OF  THE  TRUE  RIGHTEOUS  MAN 


love  the  loving  and  legitimate  violence  of  her  who  procures  its 
liberty,  and  detest  only  the  imperious  and  tyrannical  violence  of 
those  who  retain  it  unjustly.  The  most  cruel  war  which  God  can 
make  against  men  in  this  life  is  to  leave  them  without  that  war 
which  he  came  to  bring.  “  I  came  to  bring  war,”  he  says,  and 
to  inform  them  of  this  war,  “  I  came  to  bring  fire  and  the  sword.” 
Before  him  the  world  lived  in  a  false  peace. 

The  exterior  must  be  joined  to  the  interior  to  obtain  aught 
from  God,  that  is  to  say,  we  must  kneel,  pray  with  the  lips,  etc., 
in  order  that  proud  man,  who  would  not  submit  himself  to  God, 
should  now  be  subject  to  the  creature.  To  expect  succour  from 
these  externals  is  superstition,  to  refuse  to  join  them  to  interior 
acts  is  pride. 

4 

External  works. — There  is  nothing  so  perilous  as  that  which 
is  pleasing  to  God  and  to  man  ;  for  those  conditions  which  are 
pleasing  to  God  and  man,  have  one  side  which  is  pleasing  to 
God,  and  another  which  is  pleasing  to  man  ;  as  the  greatness 
of  Saint  Theresa.  That  which  was  pleasing  to  God  was  her 
profound  humility  under  her  revelations,  what  was  pleasing  to 
men  was  her  light.  And  thus  we  torment  ourselves  to  imitate 
her  discourses,  thus  thinking  to  imitate  her  condition,  and  thereby 
to  love  what  God  loves,  and  to  place  ourselves  in  a  state  which 
God  loves. 

It  is  better  not  to  fast,  and  be  thereby  humbled,  than  to  fast 
and  be  puffed  up  therewith. 

The  pharisee  and  the  publican. 

What  will  memory  avail  me  if  be  alike  hurtful  and  helpful, 
since  all  depends  upon  the  blessing  of  God,  who  gives  only  to 
things  done  for  him  according  to  his  rules  and  in  his  ways,  the 
manner  being  thus  as  important  as  the  thing,  and  perhaps  more ; 
since  God  can  bring  good  out  of  evil,  and  because  without  God 
we  bring  evil  out  of  good. 

The  hope  which  Christians  have  of  possessing  an  infinite 
good  is  mingled  with  actual  enjoyment  as  well  as  with  fear ;  for 


AND  OF  THE  TRUE  CHRISTIAN.  247 

it  is  not  as  with  those  who  should  hope  for  a  kingdom,  of  which 
they  being  subjects  would  have  nothing ;  but  they  hope  for 
holiness,  and  freedom  from  injustice,  of  which  they  possess 
somewhat. 

None  is  so  happy  as  a  true  Christian,  none  so  reasonable, 
none  so  virtuous,  none  so  amiable. 

We  remove  ourselves  from  God  only  by  removing  ourselves 
from  love. 

Our  prayers  and  our  virtues  arc  abomination  before  God  if  they 
are  not  the  prayers  and  the  virtues  of  Jesus  Christ.  And  our 
sins  will  never  be  the  object  of  the  mercy,  but  of  the  justice  of 
God,  if  they  are  not  those  of  Jesus  Christ. 

He  has  adopted  our  sins,  and  has  admitted  us  into  covenant 
with  him,  for  virtues  are  his  own,  and  sins  are  strange  to  him  ; 
while  virtues  are  strange  to  us,  and  sins  are  our  own. 

Let  us  change  the  rule  which  we  have  hitherto  adopted  for 
judging  what  is  good.  We  have  had  our  own  will  as  our  rule 
in  this  respect,  let  us  now  take  the  will  of  God,  all  that  he  wills 
is  good  and  right  to  us,  all  that  he  wills  not  is  evil. 

All  that  God  allows  not  is  forbidden  ;  sins  are  forbidden  by  the 
general  declaration  that  God  has  made,  that  he  allows  them  not. 
Other  things  which  he  has  left  without  general  prohibition,  and 
which  for  that  reason  are  said  to  be  permitted,  are  nevertheless 
not  always  permitted  ;  for  when  God  removes  any  one  of  them 
from  us,  and  when,  by  the  event,  which  is  a  manifestation  of  the 
will  of  God,  it  appears  that  God  allows  not  that  we  should  have 
a  thing,  that  is  then  forbidden  to  us  as  sin,  since  the  will  of  God 
is  that  we  should  not  have  one  more  than  the  other.  There  is 
this  sole  difference  between  these  two  things,  that  it  is  certain  God 
will  never  allow  sin,  while  it  is  not  certain  that  he  will  never 
allow  the  other,  but  so  long  as  God  allows  it  not,  we  must  look 
upon  it  as  sin,  so  long  as  the  absence  of  God’s  will,  which  alone 
is  all  goodness  and  all  justice,  renders  it  unjust  and  evil. 

True  Christians  nevertheless  submit  to  folly,  not  because  they 
respect  folly,  but  the  commandment  of  God,  who  for  the  pun¬ 
ishment  of  men  has  put  them  in  subjection  to  their  follies. 


-4^>  OF  THE  TRUE  RIGHTEOUS  MAH 

Omuis  creator  a  subjecta  est  z'anitati.  Liberabitur.  Thus  Saint 
Thomas  explains  the  passage  in  Saint  James  on  giving  place  to 
the  rich,  that  if  they  do  it  not  in  the  sight  of  Gcd  the  com¬ 
mandment  of  religion  is  set  at  naught. 

All  great  amusements  are  dangerous  to  the  Christian  life,  but 
among  all  those  which  the  world  has  invented  none  is  so  much 
to  be  feared  as  the  theatre.  It  is  so  natural  and  so  delicate  a 
representation  of  the  passions  that  it  moves  them,  and  makes 
them  spring  up  in  our  heart,  above  all  that  of  love,  princi¬ 
pally  when  it  is  represented  as  very  chaste  and  very  honourable. 
For  the  more  innocent  it  seems  to  innocent  souls,  the  more  are 
they  capable  of  being  touched  by  it ;  its  violence  pleases  our 
self-love,  which  at  once  forms  the  desire  of  causing  the  same 
effects  which  we  see  so  well  represented,  and  at  the  same  time 
we  make  for  ourselves  a  conscience  founded  on  the  honour  of 
the  feelings  which  we  see  there.  And  this  extinguishes  the  fear 
of  pure  souls  which  imagine  there  is  no  harm  to  purity  in  loving 
with  a  love  which  seems  to  them  so  moderate. 

Thus  we  leave  the  theatre  with  our  heart  so  full  of  all  the 
beauty  and  tenderness  of  love,  the  soul  and  the  mind  so  per¬ 
suaded  of  its  innocence,  that  we  are  fully  prepared  to  receive  its 
first  impressions,  or  rather  to  seek  occasion  to  let  them  be  born 
in  the  heart  of  some  one,  in  order  that  we  may  receive  the  same 
pleasures  and  the  same  sacrifices  which  we  have  seen  so  well 
depicted  in  the  theatre. 

The  circumstances  in  which  it  is  easiest  to  live  according  to 
the  world  are  those  in  which  it  is  most  difficult  to  live  according 
to  God,  and  vice  versa.  Nothing  is  so  difficult  according  to  the 
world  as  the  religious  life  ;  nothing  is  more  easy  according  to 
God.  Nothing  is  easier  than  to  live  in  great  office  and  great 
wealth  according  to  the  world ;  nothing  is  more  difficult  than 
to  live  in  them  according  to  God,  and  not  to  take  part  in  them 
and  love  them. 

Those  who  believe  without  having  read  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments,  do  so  because  they  have  a  saintly  frame  of  mind, 


AND  OF  THE  TRUE  CHRISTIAN. 


249 


with  which  all  that  they  hear  of  our  Religion  agrees.  They 
feel  that  a  God  has  made  them  ;  their  will  is  to  love  God  only, 
their  will  is  to  hate  themselves  only.  They  feel  that  they  have 
no  power  of  themselves,  that  they  are  unable  to  come  to  God, 
and  if  God  come  not  to  them,  they  can  have  no  communion  with 
him.  And  they  hear  our  Religion  declare  that  men  must  love 
God  only,  and  hate  self  only,  but  that  all  being  corrupt,  and 
unfit  for  God,  God  made  himself  man  to  unite  himself  to  us. 
No  more  is  needed  to  convince  men  who  have  such  a  disposition 
and  have  a  knowledge  of  their  duty  and  of  their  incompetence. 

Those  whom  we  see  to  be  Christians  without  the  knowledge 
of  the  prophecies  and  evidences,  are  able  to  judge  of  their  religion 
as  well  as  those  who  have  that  knowledge.  They  judge  of 
it  by  the  heart,  as  others  by  the  understanding.  God  him¬ 
self  inclines  them  to  believe,  and  thus  they  are  effectually  per¬ 
suaded. 

I  admit  that  one  of  those  Christians  who  believe  without 
proof  is  not  perhaps  qualified  to  convince  an  infidel  who  will 
say  the  same  of  himself ;  but  those  who  know  the  proofs  of 
religion  can  prove  without  difficulty  that  such  a  believer  is  truly 
inspired  by  God,  though  he  cannot  prove  it  himself. 

For  God  having  said  by  his  prophets,  who  are  beyond  a  doubt 
prophets,  that  in  the  reign  of  Jesus  Christ  he  will  spread  his 
spirit  abroad  among  all  nations,  that  the  young  men  and 
maidens  and  the  children  of  the  Church  will  prophesy,  there 
is  no  doubt  that  the  spirit  of  God  is  upon  these,  and  not  upon 
the  others. 

Wonder  not  to  see  simple  souls  believe  without  reasoning. 
God  gives  to  them  the  love  of  him,  and  the  hate  of  self,  he 
inclines  their  heart  to  belief.  No  man  will  ever  believe  with 
true  and  saving  faith  if  God  incline  not  the  heart,  but  each  will 
believe  as  soon  as  he  inclines  it.  And  this  is  what  David  knew 
well :  Inclina  cor  meuin ,  Deus ,  in  testimonia  tua. 

Romans  iii.  27  :  Boasting  is  excluded,  by  what  law  ?  Of 
works  ?  no,  but  by  that  of  faith.  Therefore  faith  is  not  in  our 


250 


OF  THE  TRUE  RIGHTEOUS  MAH 


power,  like  the  works  of  the  law.  and  it  is  given  us  in  another 
way. 

Faith  is  a  gift  of  God,  do  not  suppose  us  to  say  it  is  a  gift  of 
reason.  Other  religions  do  not  say  this  of  their  faith,  they  prof¬ 
fered  only  reason  as  a  means  of  attaining  to  it,  which  after  all 
does  not  lead  to  it. 

Faith,  it  is  true,  says  what  the  senses  do  not  say,  but  not  the 
contrary  of  what  they  perceive.  It  is  above  them,  not  contrary 
to  them. 

I  am  envious  of  those  whom  I  see  professing  the  true  faith, 
but  living  and  abusing  a  gift  of  which  it  seems  to  me  I  should 
make  a  very  different  use. 

The  law  imposed  what  it  did  not  bestow  ;  grace  bestows  that 
which  it  imposes. 

The  law  has  not  destroyed  Nature,  but  has  instructed  it ;  grace 
has  not  destroyed  the  law,  but  has  called  it  into  action. 

Faith  received  at  baptism  is  the  source  of  the  whole  life  of  the 
Christian  and  of  the  converted. 

We  make  an  idol  of  truth  itself,  for  truth  apart  from  charity  is 
not  God,  it  is  his  image  and  idol,  which  we  must  neither  love 
nor  adore  ;  still  less  must  we  love  and  adore  its  opposite,  which 
is  falsehood. 

Submission  and  use  of  reason,  in  which  consists  true  Chris¬ 
tianity 

The  last  process  of  reason  is  to  recognise  that  there  is  an 
infinity  of  things  which  transcend  it  ;  it  is  but  weak  if  it  does 
not  go  so  far  as  to  know  that. 

And  if  natural  things  transcend  it,  what  shall  we  say  of  the 
supernatural ? 

Submission. — We  must  know  when  to  doubt,  when  to  feel 


AND  OF  THE  TRUE  CHRISTIAN. 


251 


certain,  when  to  submit.  Who  fails  in  this  understands  not  the 
force  of  reason.  There  are  those  who  offend  against  these  three 
rules,  either  by  accepting  everything  as  evidence,  for  want  of 
knowing  what  evidence  is  ;  or  by  doubting  everything,  for  want 
of  knowing  when  to  submit  ;  or  by  yielding  'in  everything, 
for  want  of  knowing  when  to  use  their  judgment. 

There  are  three  means  of  belief ;  reason,  habit,  inspiration. 
The  Christian  religion,  which  only  has  reason,  does  not  admit 
as  her  true  children  those  who  believe  without  inspiration  ;  not 
that  she  excludes  reason  or  habit,  rather  the  contrary,  but  it  is 
necessary  to  open  the  mind  to  proofs,  to  confirm  ourselves  by 
habit,  and  then  to  offer  ourselves  humbly  to  inspiration,  which 
alone  can  produce  a  true  and  salutary  effect.  Ne  evacuetur  crux 
Christi. 

There  are  two  ways  of  urging  the  truths  of  our  religion  ; 
one  by  the  force  of  reason,  the  other  by  the  authority  of  the 
speaker. 

We  use  not  the  last,  but  the  first.  We  do  not  say  :  “You  must 
believe  this,  for  the  Scripture  which  says  so  is  divine,”  but  we 
say  :  You  must  believe  for  such  and  such  a  reason,  which  are 
weak  arguments,  since  reason  bends  itself  to  all. 

If  we  submit  all  to  reason  our  religion  will  have  nothing  in  it 
mysterious  or  supernatural.  If  we  violate  the  principles  of  reason, 
our  religion  will  be  absurd  and  ridiculous. 

Saint  Augustine.  Reason  would  never  submit  if  it  did  not 
judge  that  on  some  occasions  submission  is  a  duty. 

It  is  then  right  that  it  should  submit,  when  it  judges  that  it 
ought  to  submit. 

Piety  is  different  from  superstition. 

To  carry  piety  as  far  as  superstition  is  to  destroy  it. 

Heretics  reproach  us  with  this  superstitious  submission.  This 
is  to  do  that  with  which  they  reproach  us. 


252 


OF  THE  TRUE  RIGHTEOUS  MAN,  ETC . 


There  is  nothing  so  conformable  to  reason  as  the  disavowal  of 
reason. 

Two  excesses  :  to  exclude  reason,  and  to  admit  reason  only. 

Superstition  and  lust.  Scruples,  evil  desires,  evil  fear. 

Fear,  not  such  as  arises  from  a  belief  in  God,  but  that  which 
spiings  from  doubt  whether  he  is  or  is  not.  True  fear  conies 
from  faith,  false  fear  from  doubt.  True  fear  is  allied  to  hope, 
because  it  is  born  of  faith,  and  because  men  hope  in  the  God  in 
whom  they  believe  ;  false  fear  is  allied  to  despair,  because  they 
fear  the  God  in  whom  they  do  not  believe.  The  one  class  fears 
to  lose  him,  the  other  fears  to  find  him. 

A  person  said  to  me  one  day  that  when  he  came  from  con¬ 
fession  he  felt  gi  eat  joy  and  confidence.  Another  said  to  me  that 
he  was  still  fearful,  whereupon  I  thought  that  these  two  together 
would  make  one  good  man,  and  that  each  was  so  far  wanting  in 
that  he  had  not  the  feelings  of  the  other.  The  same  is  often 
true  in  other  matters. 

The  knowledge  of  God  is  very  far  from  the  love  of  him. 

We  are  not  wearied  of  eating  and  sleeping  every  day,  because 
hunger  and  drowsiness  are  renewed  ;  without  that  we  should  be 
weary  of  them.  Thus  without  the  hunger  of  spiritual  things  we 
grow  weary  of  them.  Hunger  after  righteousness,  the  eighth 
beatitude. 

The  conduct  of  God,  who  disposes  all  things  gently,  is  to  put 
religion  into  the  mind  by  reason,  and  into  the  heart  by  grace. 
Lut  to  will  to  put  it  into  the  mind  and  heart  by  force  and  menace 
is  not  to  put  religion  there,  but  terror,  terrorem  potius  quam 
religionem . 


THE  ARRANGEMENT. 


First  part:  Misery  of  man  without  God. 

Second  part :  The  happiness  of  man  with  God. 

Or.  First  part :  That  Nature  is  naturally  corrupt. 

Second  part:  That  the  Scripture  shows  a  Redeemer. 

The  arrangement  by  dialogues—  What  ought  I  to  do  ?  I  see 
only  obscurity  everywhere.  Shall  I  believe  that  I  am  nothing, 
shall  I  believe  that  I  am  God  ? 

All  things  change  and  succeed  each  other.— You  are  mistaken  ; 
there  is  .  .  . 

A  letter  to  lead  to  the  search  after  God. 

And  then  to  causehim  to  be  sought  for  among  the  philosophers, 
sceptics  and  dogmatists,  who  trouble  all  who  seek  them. 

To  pity  those  atheists  who  seek,  for  are  they  not  unhappy 
enough  ? — To  rail  against  those  who  make  a  boast  of  it. 

To  begin  by  pitying  unbelievers,  they  are  miserable  enough 
by  their  condition.  We  ought  not  to  revile  them  except  where 
it  may  be  serviceable,  but  it  does  them  hann. 

The  arrangement.  A  letter  of  advice  to  a  friend  to  lead  him  to 
seek,  and  he  will  answer :  What  is  the  good  of  seeking,  since 
nothing  comes  to  light.— Then  to  answer  him  :  “  Do  not  despair.” 

_ And  he  will  answer  that  he  would  be  glad  to  find  some  light, 

but  that  according  to  this  very  Religion,  thus  to  believe,  will 
be  of  no  use  to  him  :  and  that  therefore  he  would  as  soon  not 
seek.  And  to  answer  to  that  :  The  machine. 

The  arrangement.  After  the  letter  that  we  ought  to  seek  God , 


254 


the  arrangement. 

to  write  the  letter  on  the  removal  of  obstacles ;  which  is  the  dis¬ 
course  on  the  machine,  on  preparing  the  machine,  on  seeking 

ro n  crr-vt-i  '  & 


The  letter  which  shows  the  use  of  proofs  by  the  machine. 
aith  is  different  from  proof ;  the  one  is  human,  the  other  the 
gift  of  God.  Justus  ex  fide  vivit.  It  is  this  faith  that  God  him¬ 
self  puts  into  the  heart,  of  which  the  proof  is  often  the  instrument 

fides  ex  audita;  but  this  faith  is  in  the  heart,  and  makes  us  say 
not  scio,  but  credo.  J 

In  the  letter  on  Injustice  may  come  the  absurdity  of  the  rule 
that  the  elder  takes  all.  My  friend,  you  were  born  on  this  side 
the  mountain,  it  is  therefore  just  that  your  elder  brother  should 


The  arrangement.  Why  should  I  take  on  myself  to  divide  my 
moral  qualities  into  four  rather  than  into  six  ?  Why  should  I 
lather  establish  virtue  in  four,  in  two,  in  one  ?  Why  into  Abstine 
etsustme  rather  than  into  Follow  nature,  or,  Conduct  your  private 
affairs  without  injustice ,  as  Plato,  or  anything  else  ? 

But  there,  you  will  say,  is  everything  contained  in  one  word 
^  es  but  that  is  useless,  if  not  explained,  and  when  we  begin  to 
explain  it,  as  soon  as  the  precept  is  opened  which  contains  all 
the  others,  they  issue  in  that  first  confusion  which  you  wished  to 
avoid.  Thus  when  they  are  all  enclosed  in  one  they  are  concealed 
and  useless,  as  in  a  box,  and  never  appear  but  in  their  natural 
confusion.  Nature  has  established  them  all  without  enclosing 

flflP  in  fnP  Afknv  ^ 


The  arrangement.  Men  despise  Religion,  they  hate  it,  and 
fear  it  may  be  true.  To  cure  this  we  must  begin  by  showing 
that  Religion  is  not  contrary  to  reason  ;  then  that  it  is  venerable 
to  give  respect  for  it ;  then  to  make  it  lovable,  to  make  good  men 
hope  that  it  is  true  ;  then  to  show  that  it  is  true. 

Venerable  because  it  knows  man  well,  lovable  because  it  pro- 
mises  the  true  good.  ^ 


The  arrangement.— I  should  be  far  more  afraid  of  making  a 


THE  ARRANGEMENT.  255 

mistake  myself,  and  of  finding  that  the  Christian  religion  was 
true,  than  of  not  deceiving  myself  in  believing  it  true. 

The  arrangement. — After  corruption,  to  say:  “It  is  right  that 
those  who  are  in  that  state  should  know  it,  both  those  who  are 
contented  with  it,  and  those  who  are  discontented  ;  but  it  is  not 
right  that  all  should  see  Redemption.” 

The  arrangement.— To  see  what  is  clear  and  indisputable  in 
the  whole  state  of  the  Jews. 

To  the  chapter  on  Fundamentals  must  be  added  that  on 
Things  figurative  touching  the  reason  of  types.  Why  Jesus 
Christ  was  foretold  at  his  first  coming,  why  foretold  obscurely 
as  to  the  manner. 

A  letter,  on  the  folly  of  human  knowledge  and  philosophy. 

This  letter  before  Diversion. 

The  arrangement.— I  might  well  have  taken  this  discourse  in 
some  such  order  as  the  following  :  To  show  the  vanity  of 
every  state  of  life,  to  show  the  vanity  of  ordinary  lives,  and 
then  the  vanity  of  philosophic  lives,  sceptics,  stoics  ;  but  the 
order  would  not  have  been  kept.  I  know  a  little  what  it  is, 
and  how  few  people  know  it.  No  human  science  can  keep  it. 
Saint  Thomas  did  not  keep  it.  Mathematics  keep  it,  but  these 
are  useless  by  reason  of  their  depth. 

Without  examining  each  particular  occupation  it  will  be 
enough  to  class  them  under  Diversion. 


OF  MIRACLES  IN  GENERAL. 

THE  MIRACLE  OF  THE  HOLY  THORN. 


The  beginning. — Miracles  are  the  test  of  doctrine,  and  doctrine 
is  the  test  of  miracles. 

Of  these  there  are  false  and  true.  There  must  be  a  mark 
whereby  to  know  them,  or  they  would  be  useless. 

Now  they  are  not  useless,  and  are  on  the  contrary  funda¬ 
mental.  Now  it  must  be  that  the  rule  which  he  gives  us  be  such 
as  shall  not  impair  the  proof  afforded  by  true  miracles  to  the 
truth,  which  is  the  principal  end  of  miracles. 

Moses  has  given  two  ;  that  the  prediction  does  not  come  to 
pass,  Deut.  xviii.,  and  that  they  do  not  lead  to  idolatry,  Deut. 
xiii.  ;  and  Jesus  Christ  one. 

If  doctrine  regulate  miracles,  miracles  are  useless  for  doc¬ 
trine. 

If  miracles  regulate  .  .  . 

Objection  to  the  rule. 

Discrimination  between  times.  One  rule  in  Moses’s  day, 
another  at  present. 

Miracle.  An  effect  which  exceeds  the  natural  force  of  the 
means  employed,  and  non-miracle  an  effect  not  exceeding  the 
natural  force  of  the  means  employed.  Thus  those  who  heal  by 
invocation  of  the  devil  work  no  miracle,  for  that  does  not 
exceed  the  natural  power  of  the  devil.  But  .  .  . 

The  combinations  of  miracles. 

A  second  miracle  may  suppose  a  first,  but  a  first  cannot  sup¬ 
pose  a  second. 

No  one  has  ever  suffered  martyrdom  for  the  miracles  he  says 

s 


25S  OF  MIRACLES  IN  GENERAL. 

he  has  seen  ;  the  folly  of  men  would  perhaps  go  as  far  as 
martyrdom,  for  those  which  the  Turks  believe  by  tradition,  but 
not  for  those  they  have  seen. 

Were  there  no  false  miracles  there  would  be  certainty. 

Were  there  no  rule  to  test  them,  miracles  would  be  useless, 
and  there  would  be  no  reason  for  belief. 

Now,  humanly  speaking,  there  is  no  human  certainty,  but 
reason. 

It  is  said  :  Believe  the  Church ,  but  it  is  not  said  :  Believe  in 
Miracles ,  because  the  last  is  natural  and  not  the  first.  The  one 
had  need  of  a  precept,  not  the  other. 

Miracles.  How  I  hate  those  who  make  men  doubt  of  miracles. 
Montaigne  speaks  of  them  as  he  should  in  the  two  passages.  In 
one  we  see  how  careful  he  is,  yet  in  the  other  he  believes,  and 
laughs  at  unbelievers. 

However  it  may  be,  the  Church  has  no  proofs  if  they  are  right. 

Montaigne  against  miracles. 

Montaigne  for  miracles. 

The  reason  why  men  do  not  believe. 

Joh.  xii.  37.  Cum  autem  tanta  signa  fecissef,  non  credebant  in 
eum,  ut  sermo  Isaye  irnpleretur.  Excecavit,  etc. 

Hcec  dix  it  Isaias ,  quando  vidit  glonam  ejus ,  et  locutus  est  de  co. 

Judaei  signa  petunt ,  et  Grceci  sapientiam  qucerunt. 

Nos  autem  Jesum  crucijixum. 

Sed plenum  signis ,  scd plenum  sapient ia. 

Vos  autem  Christum  non  crucifixistis ,  et  religionem  sine 
miraculis  et  sine  sapientia. 

The  ground  of  disbelief  in  true  miracles  is  want  of  charity. 
Joh.  Sed  vos  non  creditis  quia  non  estis  ex  ovibus.  The  ground 
of  belief  in  false  miracles  is  want  of  charity. 

2  Thess.  ii. 

The  foundation  of  religion.  This  is  miracle.  Does  God  then 
speak  against  miracles,  against  the  foundations  of  the  faith 
which  we  have  in  him  ? 


OF  MIRACLES  IN  GENERAL. 


259 


If  there  be  a  God,  faith  in  God  must  exist  on  earth.  Now 
the  miracles  of  Jesus  Christ  are  not  foretold  by  Antichrist,  but 
the  miracles  of  Antichrist  are  foretold  by  Jesus  Christ.  Thus  if 
Jesus  Christ  were  not  the  Messiah  he  would  have  certainly  led 
into  error,  but  Antichrist  could  not  certainly  lead  into  error. 

When  Jesus  Christ  foretold  the  miracles  of  Antichrist,  did  he 
think  of  destroying  faith  in  his  own  miracles  ? 

Moses  foretold  Jesus  Christ,  and  commanded  to  follow  him  ; 
Jesus  Christ  foretold  Antichrist,  and  forbade  to  follow  him. 

It  was  impossible  that  in  the  time  of  Moses  any  should  assert 
their  faith  in  Antichrist,  who  was  unknown  to  them,  but  it  is  easy 
in  the  time  of  Antichrist  to  believe  in  Jesus  Christ,  already 
known. 

There  is  no  reason  to  believe  in  Antichrist  which  there  is  not 
to  believe  in  Jesus  Christ,  but  there  are  reasons  for  believing  in 
Jesus  Christ,,  which  do  not  exist  for  the  other. 

Title :  How  it  happens  that  men  believe  so  many  liars ,  who 
say  they  have  seen  miracles ,  and  do  7iot  believe  any  of  those  who 
say  they  have  secrets  to  make  men  immortal  or  render  them  young 
again. — Having  considered  how  it  happens  that  men  have  believed 
so  many  impostors,  who  pretend  they  have  remedies,  often  to  the 
length  of  putting  their  lives  into  their  hands,  it  appears  to  me  that 
the  true  cause  is  that  there  are  true  remedies.  For  it  would  not 
be  possible  there  should  be  so  many  false,  to  which  so  much 
credence  is  given,  were  there  none  true.  Were  there  no  remedy 
for  any  evil,  and  were  all  diseases  incurable,  it  is  impossible  that 
men  should  ever  have  imagined  that  they  could  give  remedies, 
and  still  more  impossible  that  so  many  others  should  have  believed 
those  who  boasted  that  they  had  them.  Just  as  if  a  man  boasted 
that  he  could  prevent  death,  no  one  would  believe  him  because 
there  is  no  example  of  this.  But  as  there  are  a  number  of  reme¬ 
dies  which  are  approved  as  true,  even  by  the  knowledge  of  the 
greatest  men,  the  belief  of  men  is  thereby  inclined  ;  and  since  the 
thing  was  known  to  be  possible,  it  has  been  therefore  concluded 
that  it  was.  For  the  public  as  a  rule  reasons  thus  :  A  thing  is 
possible,  therefore  it  is  ;  because  the  thing  cannot  be  denied 
generally,  since  there  are  particular  effects  which  are  true,  the 


26o 


OF  MIRACLES  IN  GENERAL . 


people,  who  cannot  discriminate  which  among  particular  effects 
are  true,  believe  them  all.  This  is  the  reason  that  so  many 
false  effects  are  attributed  to  the  moon,  because  there  are  some 
true,  such  as  the  tide. 

It  is  the  same  with  prophecies,  miracles,  divination  by 
dreams,  casting  lots,  etc.  For  if  in  all  these  matters  nothing 
true  had  ever  taken  place,  nothing  of  them  had  ever  been 
believed  ;  and  so  instead  of  concluding  that  there  are  no  true 
miracles,  because  so  many  are  false,  we  must  on  the  contrary 
say  that  there  are  certainly  true  miracles  because  there  are 
false,  and  that  the  false  only  exist  because  some  are  true.  We 
must  reason  in  the  same  way  about  Religion,  for  it  would  not  be 
possible  that  men  should  have  imagined  so  many  false  religions 
had  there  not  been  one  that  is  true.  The  objection  to  this  is  that 
savages  have  a  religion,  but  we  answer  that  they  have  heard 
speak  of  the  true,  as  appears  by  the  deluge,  circumcision,  Saint 
Andrew’s  cross,  etc. 

Having  considered  how  it  comes  that  there  are  so  many  false 
miracles,  false  revelations,  castings  of  lots,  etc.,  it  has  appeared 
to  me  that  the  real  cause  is  that  there  are  true  ones,  for  it  would 
not  be  possible  that  there  should  be  so  many  false  miracles  un¬ 
less  there  were  true,  nor  so  many  false  revelations  unless  there 
were  true,  nor  so  many  false  religions  unless  there  were  one  that 
is  true.  For  if  all  this  had  never  been,  it  is  impossible  that  men 
should  have  imagined  it,  and  still  more  impossible  that  so  many 
others  should  have  believed  it.  But  as  there  have  been  very 
great  things  which  are  true  and  as  they  have  been  believed  by 
great  men  ;  this  impression  has  been  produced,  that  almost  every¬ 
body  has  been  made  capable  of  believing  the  false  also  ;  and 
thus  instead  of  concluding  that  there  are  no  true  miracles  since 
there  are  so  many  false,  we  must  on  the  contrary  say  that  there 
are  true  miracles  since  there  are  so  many  false,  and  that  false 
miracles  only  exist  for  the  reason  that  there  are  true  ;  so  also 
that  there  are  false  religions  only  because  there  is  one  that  is 
true. — The  objection  to  this  is  that  savages  have  a  religion. 
But  this  is  because  they  have  heard  speak  of  the  true,  as  appears 
by  Saint  Andrew’s  cross,  the  deluge,  the  circumcision,  etc. — This 


OF  MIRACLES  IN  GENERAL. 


261 

comes  from  the  fact  that  the  spirit  of  man,  finding  itself  inclined 
to  that  side  by  truth,  becomes  therefore  susceptible  of  all  the 
falsehoods  of  that  .  .  . 

I  should  not  be  a  Christian  were  it  not  for  the  miracles,  said 
Saint  Augustine. 

But  for  the  miracles  there  would  have  been  no  sin  in  not 
believing  in  Jesus  Christ. 

It  is  not  possible  to  believe  reasonably  against  miracles. 

Miracles  have  so  great  a  force  that  it  was  needful  that  God 
should  warn  us  not  to  credit  them  against  him,  clear  as  it 
may  be  that  there  is  a  God  ;  without  this  they  would  have  been 
able  to  disturb. 

And  thus  so  far  from  these  passages,  Deut.  xiii.,  making 
against  the  authority  of  miracles,  nothing  more  marks  their  force. 
The  same  with  Antichrist ;  “  to  seduce  if  it  were  possible  even 
the  very  elect.’' 

Abraham  and  Gideon  are  above  revelation 

The  Jews  blinded  themselves  in  judging  of  miracles  by  the 
Scripture.  God  has  never  left  his  true  worshippers. 

I  prefer  to  follow  Jesus  Christ  than  any  other,  because  he 
has  miracle,  prophecy,  doctrine,  perpetuity,  etc. 

The  Donatists.  No  miracle  which  obliged  them  to  say  it  was 
the  devil. 

The  more  we  specialise  God,  Jesus  Christ  and  the  Church. 

Jesus  Christ  worked  miracles,  then  the  apostles,  and  the  early 
saints  in  great  number,  because  the  prophecies  not  being  yet 
fulfilled,  but  only  in  the  way  of  fulfilment  by  them,  miracles 
were  their  only  witness.  It  was  foretold  that  the  Messiah  should 
convert  the  nations,  and  this  prophecy  could  not  be  fulfilled 
without  the  conversion  of  the  nations.  Nor  could  the  nations 
be  converted  to  Messiah  unless  they  saw  the  final  effect  of  the 
prophecies  concerning  him.  Till  therefore  he  died  and  rose 


262 


OF  MIRACLES  IN  GENERAL. 


again,  and  had  converted  the  nations,  all  was  not  fulfilled,  where¬ 
fore  miracles  were  needed  during  that  time.  We  now  need  no 
more  miracles  against  the  Jews,  for  the  fulfilment  of  prophecy 
is  an  enduring  miracle. 


Prophecy  is  not  called  miracle ,  as  Saint  John  speaks  of  the 
first  miracle  in  Cana,  then  of  what  Jesus  Christ  said  to  the 
woman  of  Samaria,  revealing  to  her  all  her  hidden  life.  Then 
he  healed  the  centurion’s  son,  and  Saint  John  calls  this  the 
second  sign. 

Jesus  Christ  has  verified  that  he  was  the  Messiah,  never  in 
verifying  his  doctrine  by  Scripture  and  the  prophecies,  but 
always  by  his  miracles. 

He  proves  by  a  miracle  that  he  remits  sins. 

Rejoice  not  that  you  work  miracles,  said  Jesus  Christ,  but 
rather  that  your  names  are  written  in  heaven. 

If  they  believe  not  Moses,  neither  will  they  believe  one  risen 
from  the  dead. 

Nicodemus  recognised  by  his  miracles,  that  his  doctrine  was 
of  God.  Scimus  quia  venisti  a  Deo ,  inagister. ,  nemo  enim  potest 
facere  qicce  tu  facis ,  nisi  Dens  fuerit  cum  eo.  H e  judged  not  of  the 
miracles  by  the  doctrine,  but  of  the  doctrine  by  the  miracles. 

Here  is  no  country  for  truth,  she  wanders  unknown  among 
men.  God  has  covered  her  with  a  veil  which  leaves  her  un¬ 
recognised  by  those  who  hear  not  her  voice  ;  the  way  is  open 
for  blasphemy  even  against  those  truths  which  are  at  the  least 
very  apparent.  If  the  truths  of  the  Gospel  are  published,  the 
contrary  is  also  published,  and  questions  are  obscured,  so  that 
the  people  cannot  discern,  and  they  ask  us,  “What  have  you  to 
make  you  believed  rather  than  others  ?  what  sign  do  you  give  ? 
you  have  words  only,  so  have  we,  if  you  have  miracles,  good.” 
That  doctrine  must  be  supported  by  miracle  is  a  truth  of  which 
they  make  a  pretext  to  blaspheme  against  doctrine.  And  if 
miracles  happen,  it  is  said  that  miracles  are  not  enough  without 
doctrine,  and  that  is  another  way  of  blaspheming  against  miracles. 

Jesus  Christ  healed  the  man  born  blind,  and  worked  many 


OF  MIRACLES  IN  GENERAL.  263 

miracles  on  the  sabbath  day,  and  thus  he  blinded  the  Pharisees 
who  said  that  miracles  must  be  tested  by  doctrine. 

“  We  have  Moses,  but  as  for  this  man,  we  know,  not  whence 
he  is.”  It  is  wonderful  that  you  know  not  whence  he  is,  and  yet 
he  works  such  miracles. 

Jesus  Christ  spoke  neither  against  God,  nor  against  Moses. 

Antichrist  and  the  false  prophets  foretold  by  both  Testaments, 
will  speak  openly  against  God,  and  against  Jesus  Christ,  who  is 
not  hidden.  Whoever  will  be  a  secret  enemy,  God  will  not  per¬ 
mit  that  he  work  miracles  openly. 

In  a  public  dispute  where  the  two  parties  declare  themselves 
on  the  side  of  God,  of  Jesus  Christ,  or  the  Church,  there  have 
never  been  miracles  on  the  side  of  the  false  Christians,  while 
the  other  party  has  remained  without  miracle. 

“  He  hath  a  devil,”  John  x.  21.  “  And  others  said,  Can  a  devil 
open  the  eyes  of  the  blind  ?” 

The  proofs  which  Jesus  Christ  and  the  Apostles  draw  from 
Scripture  are  not  decisive,  for  they  say  only  that  Moses  fore¬ 
told  that  a  prophet  would  come ;  but  they  do  not  thereby  prove 
that  Jesus  Christ  was  that  prophet,  which  is  the  whole  question. 
These  passages,  then,  serve  only  to  show  that  we  are  not  con¬ 
trary  to  Scripture,  and  that  there  is  no  contradiction,  not  that 
there  is  accord.  Now  this  is  enough,  there  is  no  contradic¬ 
tion  ;  and  there  are  miracles. 

It  follows,  then,  that  he  judged  miracles  to  be  certain  proofs  of 
what  he  taught,  and  that  the  Jews  were  bound  to  believe  him. 
And  as  a  fact,  it  was  the  miracles  especially  which  made  the 
unbelief  of  the  Jews  so  blameworthy. 

There  is  a  reciprocal  duty  between  God  and  men.  We  must 
forgive  him  this  saying  :  Quid  debui.  “  Accuse  me,”  said  God  in 
Isaiah. 

God  must  accomplish  his  promises,  etc. 

Men  owe  it  to  God  to  receive  the  Religion  which  he  sends 
them.  God  owes  it  to  men  not  to  lead  them  into  error.  Now 
they  would  be  led  into  error,  if  the  workers  of  miracles  should 
announce  a  doctrine  which  did  not  appear  visibly  false  to  the 
light  of  common  sense,  and  if  a  greater  worker  of  miracles  had 
not  already  given  warning  not  to  believe  in  them. 


264 


OF  MIRACLES  IN  GENERAL. 


Thus  if  there  were  division  in  the  Church,  and  the  Arians,  fot 
example,  wrho  no  less  than  Catholics  said  they  were  founded 
on  Scripture,  had  worked  miracles,  and  the  Catholics  had 
worked  none,  men  had  been  led  into  error. 

For,  as  a  man,  who  announces  to  us  the  secret  things  of  God 
is  not  worthy  to  be  believed  on  his  private  testimony,  and  on 
that  very  ground  the  wicked  doubt  him  ;  so  when  a  man  as  a  sign 
of  the  communion  which  he  has  with  God  raises  the  dead,  fore¬ 
tells  the  future,  moves  the  seas,  heals  the  sick,  there  is  none  so 
wicked  as  not  to  yield,  and  the  incredulity  of  Pharaoh  and  the 
Pharisees  is  the  effect  of  a  supernatural  hardening. 

When,  therefore,  we  see  miracles  and  doctrine  not  open  to 
suspicion  both  on  one  side,  there  is  no  difficulty.  But  when  we 
see  miracles  and  suspicious  doctrine  on  the  same  side  we  must 
see  which  is  the  clearest.  Jesus  Christ  was  suspected. 

Barjesus  was  blinded.  The  power  of  God  is  above  that  of  his 
enemies. 

The  Jewish  exorcists  were  beaten  by  devils,  who  said,  “  Jesus 
we  know,  and  Paul  we  know,  but  who  are  ye?” 

Miracles  are  for  doctrine,  and  not  doctrine  for  miracles. 

But  if  miracles  are  true  we  cannot  persuade  men  of  all  doc¬ 
trine,  for  that  will  not  come  to  pass  :  Si  angelus  .  .  . 

Rule.  We  must  judge  of  doctrine  by  miracles,  we  must  judge 
of  miracles  by  doctrine.  All  this  is  true,  but  there  is  no  con¬ 
tradiction. 

For  we  must  distinguish  the  times. 

You  are  glad  to  know  general  rules,  thinking  by  that  to  intro¬ 
duce  difficulties,  and  render  all  useless.  We  shall  stop  you,  my 
good  father  ;  truth  is  one,  and  strong. 

It  is  impossible  from  the  duty  God  owes  us,  that  a  man,  con¬ 
cealing  his  evil  doctrine,  and  only  allowing  the  good  to  appear, 
pretending  that  he  is  in  conformity  with  God  and  the  Church, 
should  work  miracles  to  insinuate  insensibly  a  false  and  subtle 
doctrine.  This  cannot  be. 

Still  less,  that  God  who  knows  the  heart,  should  work  miracles 
in  favour  of  such  an  one. 

There  is  much  difference  between  temptation  and  leading 


OF  MIRACLES  IN  GENERAL. 


265 

into  error.  God  tempts,  but  he  leads  not  into  error.  To  tempt 
is  to  present  occasions  which  impose  no  necessity  ;  if  we  love 
not  God  we  shall  do  a  certain  thing.  To  lead  into  error,  is  to 
place  a  man  in  a  necessity  of  forming  and  following  false  con¬ 
clusion. 

This  is  what  God  cannot  do,  which  nevertheless  he  would  do, 
if  in  an  obscure  question  he  wrought  miracles  on  the  side  of 
falsehood. 

In  the  Old  Testament,  when  they  would  turn  you  from  God, 
in  the  New  when  they  would  turn  you  from  Jesus  Christ. 

Such  are  the  occasions  on  which  we  exclude  certain  miracles 
from  credence.  There  need  be  no  other  exclusions. 

But  it  does  not  therefore  follow  that  they  had  the  right  to  exclude 
all  the  prophets  who  came  to  them.  They  would  have  sinned  in 
not  excluding  those  who  denied  God,  and  would  also  have 
sinned  in  excluding  those  who  denied  him  not. 

50  soon,  then,  as  we  see  a  miracle  we  should  at  once  either 
acquiesce  or  have  signal  marks  against  it.  We  must  see  if 
it  denies  either  a  God,  or  Jesus  Christ,  or  the  Church. 

Miracles  avail  not  for  conversion,  but  for  condemnation. 
I  P.  ix.  1 1 3,  a.  10,  ad.  2. 

51  tit  es  Christus ,  die  nobis. 

Opera  quee  ego  facto  in  nomine  patris  mei ,  hcec  testimonium 
perhibent  de  me. 

Sed  non  vos  creditis  quia  non  estis  ex  ovibus  meis.  Ones  mei 
vocem  meant  audiunt. 

Joh.  vi.  30.  Quod  ergo  tu  facis  signum  ut  videamus ,  et  creda- 
mus  tibi  ?  Non  dicunt  :  Quam  doctrinam  prcedicas  ? 

Nemo  potest  facere  signa  quee  tu  facis ,  nisi  Deus  fuerit 
cum  illo. 

2  Mach.  xiv.  15.  Deus  qtti  sigttis  evidentibus  suam  portionem 
protegit. 

Volumus  signum  videre  de  coelo  tentanies  eum.  Luc.  xi.  16. 

Generatio  prava  signum  qinzrit  j  sed  non  dabitur. 


266 


OF  MIRACLES  IN  GENERAL. 


Et  ingemiscens  ait;  Quid,  generatio  ista  signum  queer  it.  Marc, 
viii.  1 2.  Thev  asked  a  sign  with  a  bad  intent.  Et  non  poterat 
facere.  And  nevertheless  he  promises  them  the  sign  of  Jonah, 
the  great  and  incomparable  evidence  of  his  resurrection. 

Nisi  videritis  signa  non  credit  is.  He  does  not  blame  them 
for  not  believing  without  there  having  been  miracles,  but 
without  their  having  been  themselves  witnesses  of  them. 

Antichrist  in  signis  mendacibus ,  says  St.  Paul.  2  Thess.  ii. 

Secundum  operationem  Sat ancc.  In  seductione  ii  qui  pereunt 
eo  quod  charitatem  veritatis  non  receperunt  ut  salvi  fierent.  Idco 
mittet  illis  Dcus  operationem  erroris  ut  credant  me?idacia. 

As  in  the  passage  of  Moses  :  Tentat  cnim  vos  Deus ,  utruin 
diligatis  cum. 

Ecce  proedixi  vobis ,  vos  ergo  videte. 

The  Church  has  three  kinds  of  enemies,  the  Jews,  who  have 
never  been  of  her  body  ;  the  heretics,  who  have  withdrawn  from 
it ;  and  bad  Christians,  who  rend  her  from  within. 

These  three  different  kinds  of  enemies  generally  assail  her  in 
different  ways,  but  here  they  assail  her  in  the  same  fashion.  As 
they  are  all  without  miracles,  and  as  the  Church  has  always  had 
miracles  against  them,  they  have  all  had  the  same  interest  in 
eluding  them  ;  and  all  avail  themselves  of  this  pretext,  that  we 
must  not  judge  of  doctrine  by  miracles,  but  of  miracles  by 
doctrine.  There  were  two  parties  among  those  who  heard  Jesus 
Christ,  those  who  followed  his  doctrine  by  reason  of  his  miracles  ; 
others  who  said  .  .  .  There  were  two  parties  in  the  time  of 
Calvin.  There  are  now  the  Jesuits,  etc. 

Miracles  are  the  test  in  doubtful  matters,  between  Jew  and 
Gentile,  Jew  and  Christian,  catholic  and  heretic,  slanderer  and 
slandered,  between  the  two  crosses. 

But  miracles  would  be  useless  to  heretics,  for  the  Church, 
authorised  by  miracles  which  have  already  obtained  credence, 
tells  us  that  they  have  not  the  true  faith.  There  is  no  doubt 
that  they  are  not  in  it,  because  the  first  miracles  of  the  Church 
exclude  belief  in  theirs.  Thus  there  is  miracle  against  miracle, 
and  the  first  and  greatest  are  on  the  side  of  the  Church. 


OF  MIRACLES  IN  GENERAL. 


267 


Controversy.  Abel,  Cain Moses,  the  Magicians  Elijah, 
the  false  prophets  Jeremiah,  Hananiah  Micaiah,  the  false 
prophets  ;  Jesus  Christ,  the  Pharisees  ; — Saint  Paul,  Barjesus  ; 
—the  Apostles,  the  Exorcists  the  Christians  and  the  infidels  ; 
—Catholics,  heretics  ;— Elijah,  Enoch,  Antichrist. 

In  the  trial  by  miracles  truth  always  prevails.  The  two 
crosses. 


Miracles  are  no  longer  needful,  because  they  have  already  been. 
But  when  we  listen  no  more  to  tradition,  when  the  pope  alone  is 
proposed  to  us,  when  he  has  been  taken  by  surprise,  and  when 
the  tiue  source  of  truth,  which  is  tradition,  is  thus  excluded, 
the  pope,  who  is  its  guardian,  is  thus  prejudiced,  truth  is  no 
longer  allowed  to  appear  ;  then,  since  men  speak  no  longer  of 
truth,  truth  herself  must  speak  to  men.  This  is  what  happened 
in  the  time  of  Arius. 

Religion  is  adapted  to  every  kind  of  intellect.  Some  consider 
only  its  establishment,  and  this  Religion  is  such  that  its  very 
establishment  is  enough  to  prove  its  truth.  Some  trace  it  as  far 
as  the  apostles  ;  the  more  learned  go  back  to  the  beginning  of 
the  world  ;  the  angels  see  it  better  still,  and  from  earlier  time. 

1.  Objection.  An  angel  front  heaven. 

We  must  not  judge  of  truth  by  miracles,  but  of  miracles  by 
truth. 

Therefore  miracles  are  useless. 

Now  they  serve,  and  cannot  be  against  the  truth. 

Therefore  what  Father  Lingende  says,  that  God  will  not  allow 
a  miracle  to  lead  into  error  .  .  . 

When  there  shall  be  a  dispute  in  the  same  Church,  miracle 
will  decide. 

2.  Objection. 

But  A  ntichrist  will  work  miracles. 

The  Magicians  of  Pharaoh  did  not  lead  into  error.  Thus  on 
Antichrist  we  cannot  say  to  Jesus  Christ  :  You  have  led  me  into 
error.  For  Antichrist  will  work  them  against  Jesus  Christ,  and 


268 


OF  MIRACLES  IN  GENERAL. 


thus  they  cannot  lead  into  error.  Either  God  will  not  permit 
false  miracles,  or  he  will  procure  greater. 

If  in  the  same  Church  a  miracle  should  occur  on  the  side  of 
those  in  error,  men  would  be  led  into  error. 

A  schism  is  visible,  a  miracle  is  visible.  But  a  schism  is  more 
a  mark  of  error  than  a  miracle  is  a  mark  of  truth,  therefore  a 
miracle  cannot  lead  into  error. 

But  apart  from  schism  the  error  is  not  so  visible  as  the  miracle 
is  visible. 

Therefore  miracle  may  lead  into  error. 

Ubi  est  Deus  tuns  ? — Miracles  show  him  and  are  a  light  to  him. 

Joh.  vi.  26.  Non  quia  vidisti  signum ,  sed  quia  saturati  estis. 

Those  who  follow  Jesus  Christ  because  of  his  miracles  honour 
his  power  in  all  the  miracles  which  it  produces.  But  those  who, 
making  profession  to  follow  him  because  of  his  miracles,  only 
follow  him  indeed  because  he  consoles  them  and  satisfies  them 
with  worldly  goods,  disparage  his  miracles  when  they  are  con¬ 
trary  to  their  own  convenience. 

J  oh.  ix  :  Non  est  hie  homo  a  Deo ,  quia  sabbatum  non  cusiodit. 
A  lii :  Quomodo  potest  homo  peccator  luxe  signa  facere  ? 

Which  is  the  most  clear  ? 

This  house  is  not  of  God,  for  they  do  not  there  believe  that 
tne  five  propositions  are  in  Jansenius. 

Others  :  This  house  is  of  God,  for  in  it  strange  miracles  are 
done. 

Which  is  the  most  clear  ? 

Tu  quid  dicis  f  Dico  quia  propheta  est. — Nisi  esset  hie  a  Deo , 
non  poterat  facere  quidquam. 

There  is  much  difference  between  not  being  for  Jesus  Christ, 
and  saying  it,  and  not  being  for  Jesus  Christ,  yet  feigning  to  be 
so.  The  one  party  can  work  miracles,  not  the  others,  for  it  is 
clear  that  the  one  party  are  against  the  truth,  but  not  that  the 
others  are  ;  and  thus  miracles  are  the  more  clear. 

“  If  you  believe  not  in  me,  believe  at  least  in  the  miracles.” 
He  puts  them  forward  as  the  strongest. 

He  had  said  to  the  Jews  as  well  as  to  the  Christians,  that  they 


OF  MIRACLES  IN  GENERAL. 


269 


should  not  always  believe  the  prophets  ;  but  nevertheless  the 
pharisees  and  scribes  made  much  of  his  miracles,  and  tried  to 
show  that  they  were  false  or  worked  by  the  devil,  since  they 
were  bound  to  be  convinced,  if  they  admitted  that  these  were  of 
God. 

We  are  not  in  these  days  obliged  so  to  discriminate.  Yet  it 
is  very  easy  to  do  so ;  those  who  deny  neither  God  nor  Jesus 
Christ  work  no  miracles  which  are  not  quite  certain. 

Nemo  facit  virtutem  in  nomine  meo ,  et  cito  ftossit  de  me  male 
loqui. 

But  we  have  not  to  use  this  discrimination.  Here  is  a  sacred 
relic,  here  is  a  thorn  from  the  crown  of  the  Saviour  of  the 
world,  on  whom  the  prince  of  this  world  has  no  power,  which 
works  miracles  by  the  immediate  power  of  the  blood  that  was 
shed  for  us.  Thus  God  has  himself  chosen  this  house  wherein 
openly  to  show  forth  his  power. 

Here  are  not  men  who  work  miracles  by  an  unknown  and 
doubtful  virtue,  obliging  us  to  a  difficult  discrimination  ;  it  is 
God  himself,  it  is  the  instrument  of  the  passion  of  his  only  Son, 
who  being  in  many  places  chose  this,  and  made  men  come  from 
all  sides,  there  to  receive  miraculous  succour  in  their  weaknesses. 

If  the  devil  were  to  favour  the  doctrine  which  destroys  him, 
he  would  be  divided  against  himself,  as  Jesus  Christ  said.  If 
God  favoured  the  doctrine  which  destroys  the  Church,  he  would 
be  divided  against  himself.  Omne  regnitm  divisum. 

For  Jesus  Christ  acted  against  the  devil,  and  destroyed  his 
empire  over  the  heart,  of  which  exorcism  is  the  figure,  to  esta¬ 
blish  the  kingdom  of  God.  And  so  he  adds  :  Si  in  digito  Dei , 
regnum  Dei  ad  vos. 

Either  God  has  confounded  the  false  miracles  or  he  has  fore¬ 
told  them,  and  both  by  the  one  and  the  other  he  has  raised 
himself  above  the  supernatural  in  regard  to  us,  and  has  raised 
us  also. 

Jer.  xxiii.  32.  The  miracles  of  the  false  prophets.  In  the  Hebrew 
and  Vatable  they  are  called  trifles. 


270 


QF  MIRACLES  IN  GENERAL. 


Miracle  does  not  always  mean  miracle.  I  Kings  xiv.  1 5. 
Miracle  signifies  fear ,  and  is  the  same  in  Hebrew. 

The  same  plainly  in  Job  xxxiii.  7. 

So  in  Isaiah  xxi.  4.  Jeremiah  xliv.  12. 

Porte7itum  means  images,  Jer.  1.  38,  and  it  is  the  same  in 
Hebrew  and  Vatable.  Isaiah  viii.  18.  Jesus  Christ  says  that 
he  and  his  will  be  in  miracles. 

Jesus  Christ  said  that  the  Scriptures  bear  witness  of  him,  but 
he  did  not  show  in  what  respect. 

Even  the  prophecies  could  not  prove  Jesus  Christ  during  his 
life,  and  thus  if  miracles  had  not  sufficed  without  doctrine,  men 
would  not  have  been  blameworthy  who  did  not  believe  in  him 
before  his  death.  Now  those  who  did  not  believe  in  him  during 
his  life  were  sinners,  as  he  says  himself,  and  without  excuse. 
Therefore  they  must  have  resisted  a  conclusive  proof.  Now 
they  had  not  our  proof,  but  only  miracles,  therefore  miracles 
are  enough  when  doctrine  is  not  contrary,  and  they  ought  to 
be  believed. 

J  ohn  vii.  40.  Controversy  among  the  Jews  as  a77i07ig  Christia7is 
of  our  day.  The  one  party  believed  in  Jesus  Christ,  the  other 
believed  not,  because  of  the  prophecies  which  said  he  should  be 
born  in  Bethlehem.  They  should  have  enquired  more  diligently 
whether  he  was  not.  For  his  miracles  being  convincing,  they 
ought  to  have  been  quite  certain  of  these  alleged  contradictions 
of  his  doctrine  to  the  Scripture,  and  this  obscurity  did  not 
excuse,  but  blinded  them.  Thus  those  who  refuse  to  believe 
miracles  in  our  day  on  account  of  an  alleged  but  unreal  contra¬ 
diction,  are  not  excused. 

When  the  people  believed  on  him  because  of  his  miracles,  the 
pharisees  said  :  “This  people,  which  doeth  not  the  law,  is 
accursed,  but  there  is  none  of  the  princes  or  the  pharisees  who 
has  believed  on  him,  for  we  know  that  out  of  Galilee  ariseth  no 
prophet.  Nicodemus  answered,  Doth  our  law  judge  any  man 
before  it  heareth  him  ?” 

Judges  xiii.  23.  “If  the  Lord  were  pleased  to  kill  us,  he  would 
not  have  shewed  us  all  these  things.” 


271 


OF  MIRACLES  IN  GENERAL. 

Hezekiah,  Sennacherib. 

Jeremiah,  Hananiah,  the  false  prophet,  died  in  seven  months. 

2  Macc.  iii.  The  temple,  ready  for  pillage,  miraculously  suc¬ 
coured. — 2  Macc.  xv. 

1  Kings  xvii.  The  widow  to  Elijah,  who  had  restored  her  son. 
“  By  this  I  know  that  thy  words  are  true.” 

1  Kings  xviii.  Elijah,  with  the  prophets  of  Baal. 

Never  in  a  contention  concerning  the  true  God  or  of  the  truth 

of  Religion  has  any  miracle  happened  on  the  side  of  error  and 
not  of  truth. 

Miracle.  The  people  believe  this  of  themselves,  but  if  the 
reason  must  be  given  you  .  .  . 

It  is  troublesome  to  be  an  exception  to  the  rule.  We  ought 
strictly  to  hold  the  rule  and  oppose  the  exception,  yet  as  it  is 
certain  there  are  exceptions  to  every  rule,  we  ought  with  this 
strictness  to  be  just. 

^  Is  it  not  enough  that  miracles  are  done  in  one  place,  and  that 
God’s  providence  is  shown  on  one  people  ? 

Good  breeding  goes  so  far  as  to  have  no  politeness,  and  true 
piety  to  have  politeness  for  others. 

This  is  not  well  bred. 

The  incredulous  are  the  most  credulous.  They  believe  the 
miracles  of  Vespasian  in  order  that  they  may  not  believe  those 
of  Moses. 

On  the  Miracle.  As  God  has  made  no  family  more  happy, 
he  should  also  find  none  more  grateful. 


JESUITS  AND  JANSEN/STS. 


The  Church  has  always  been  assailed  by  contrary  errors,  but 
perhaps  never  at  the  same  time,  as  now  ;  and  if  she  suffer  more 
because  of  the  multiplicity  of  errors,  she  receives  this  advantage 
from  it,  that  they  destroy  each  other. 

She  complains  of  both,  but  much  the  most  of  the  Calvinists 
because  of  the  schism. 

It  is  certain  that  many  of  the  two  opposite  parties  are  de¬ 
ceived  ;  they  must  be  disabused. 

Faith  embraces  many  truths  which  seem  contradictory.  There 

is  a  time  to  laugh, ,  and  a  time  to  weep,  etc.  Respoude,  ne  respondeas 
etc. 

The  source  of  this  is  the  union  of  the  two  natures  in  Jesus  Christ. 
And  also  the  two  worlds.  The  creation  of  a  new  heaven  and 
a  new  earth,  a  new  life,  a  new  death,  all  things  double,  and  the 
same  names  remaining. 

And  finally,  the  two  natures  which  are  in  the  righteous  man,  for 
they  are  the  two  worlds,  and  a  member  and  image  of  Jesus  Christ. 
And  thus  all  the  names  suit  them,  righteous,  sinners  ;  dead 
though  living,  living  though  dead,  elect,  reprobate,  etc. 

There  are  then  a  great  number  of  truths  in  faith  and  in  morals, 
which  seem  contrary  to  each  other,  which  yet  all  subsist  to¬ 
gether  in  a  wonderful  order. 

The  source  of  all  heresies  is  the  exclusion  of  some  of  these 
truths. 

And  the  souice  of  all  the  objections  made  by  heretics  against 
us  is  the  ignorance  of  some  of  these  truths. 

And  for  the  most  part  it  happens  that,  unable  to  conceive  the 
relation  of  two  opposite  truths,  and  believing  that  admission  of 
one  involves  the  exclusion  of  the  other,  they  embrace  the  one 
and  exclude  the  other,  thinking  that  we  on' the  other  hand 

T 


274 


JESUITS  AND  JANSENTSTS 

Now  exclusion  is  the  cause  of  their  heresy,  and  ignorance  that  we 
hold  the  other  truth  causes  their  objections. 

ist  example  :  Jesus  Christ  is  God  and  man.  The  Arians, 
unable  to  reconcile  these  things  which  they  believe  incompatible, 
say  that  he  is  man,  and  so  far  they  are  Catholics.  But  they  deny 
that  he  is  God,  and  so  far  they  are  heretics.  They  assert  that 
we  deny  his  humanity,  and  so  far  they  are  ignorant. 

2nd  example,  on  the  subject  of  the  Holy  Sacrament.  We 
believe  that  the  substance  of  bread  being  changed,  and  con- 
substantially  that  of  the  body  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is 
therein  really  present.  That  is  one  truth.  Another  is  that  this 
sacrament  is  also  a  figure  of  that  of  the  cross  and  of  glory,  and 
a  commemoration  of  the  two.  T.  hat  is  the  Catholic  faith,  which 
comprehends  these  two  truths  which  seem  opposed. 

The  heresy  of  our  day,  not  conceiving  that  this  sacrament 
contains  at  one  and  the  same  time  both  the  presence  of  Jesus 
Christ  and  a  figure  of  his  presence,  that  it  is  a  sacrifice  and  a 
commemoration  of  a  sacrifice,  believes  that  neither  of  these 
truths  can  be  admitted  without,  by  this  very  reason,  the  exclusion 
of  the  other. 

They  adhere  to  this  only  point,  that  this  sacrament  is  figura¬ 
tive,  and  so  far  they  are  not  heretics.  They  think  that  we  exclude 
this  truth,  hence  it  comes  that  they  found  so  many  objections 
on  those  passages  of  the  Fathers  which  assert  it.  Lastly  they 
deny  the  presence,  and  so  far  they  are  heretics. 

3rd  example.  Indulgences. 

Therefore  the  shortest  way  to  hinder  heresies  is  to  teach  all 
truths,  and  the  surest  means  of  refuting  them  is  to  declare  them 
all.  For  what  will  the  heretics  say  ? 

If  the  ancient  Church  was  in  error,  the  Church  is  fallen  ;  if  she 
is  so  now  it  is  not  the  same  thing,  for  she  has  always  the  superior 
maxim  of  tradition  from  the  hand  of  the  ancient  Church ;  and  thus 
this  submission  and  conformity  to  the  ancient  Church  prevails 
and  corrects  all.  But  the  ancient  Church  did  not  postulate  the 
future  Church,  and  did  not  regard  her,  as  we  postulate  and 
regard  the  ancient. 

All  err  the  more  dangerously  because  they  follow  each  a  truth, 


JESUITS  AND  JANSEN/STS.  275 

their  fault  is  not  that  they  follow  an  error,  but  that  they  do  not 
follow  another  truth. 

That  which  hinders  us  in  comparing  what  formerly  took 
place  in  the  Church  with  what  we  now  see,  is  that  we  are 
wont  to  regard  Saint  Athanasius  or  Saint  Theresa  and  others  as 
crowned  with  glory,  and  acting  in  regard  to  us  as  gods.  Now 
that  time  has  cleared  our  vision  we  see  that  they  are  so.  But  when 
this  great  saint  was  persecuted  he  was  a  man  called  Athanasius, 
and  Saint  Theresa  was  a  nun.  “  Elias  was  a  man  like  ourselves 
and  subject  to  the  same  passions  as  ourselves,”  says  Saint  Peter,  to 
disabuse  Christians  of  that  false  notion  that  we  must  reject  the 
examples  of  the  saints  as  disproportioned  to  our  state.  They  were 
saints,  say  we,  they  are  not  like  us.  What  was  the  case  then  ? 
Saint  Athanasius  was  a  man  called  Athanasius,  accused  of  many 
crimes,  condemned  by  such  and  such  a  council  for  such  and  such 
a  crime.  All  the  bishops  assented  to  it,  and  at  last  the  pope. 
What  did  they  say  to  those  who  resisted  his  condemnation? 
That  they  were  disturbing  the  peace,  that  they  were  creating  a 
schism,  etc. 

Four  kinds  of  persons  :  zeal  without  knowledge,  knowledge 
without  zeal,  neither  knowledge  nor  zeal,  zeal  and  knowledge. 
The  first  three  condemned  him,  the  last  absolved  him,  were 
excommunicated  by  the  Church  and  yet  saved  the  Church. 

The  three  notes  of  Religion  :  perpetuity,  a  good  life,  miracles. 
They  destroy  perpetuity  by  probability,  good  life  by  their 
morality,  miracles  in  destroying  either  their  truth  or  their  conse¬ 
quence. 

If  we  believe  them,  the  Church  has  nothing  to  do  with  per¬ 
petuity,  a  holy  life,  or  miracles. 

Heretics  deny  them  or  deny  the  consequences  ;  they  do  the 
same.  But  those  must  be  devoid  of  sincerity  who  deny  them, 
or  again  have  lost  their  senses  if  they  deny  the  consequences. 

Perpetuity.  Is  your  character  founded  on  Escobar? 

Perhaps  you  have  reasons  for  not  condemning  them ;  it  is 
enough  that  you  approve  of  those  I  address  to  you  on  the  subject. 


276 


JESUITS  AND  JANSENISTS. 

Would  tlie  pope  be  dishonoured  by  gaining  his  light  from  God 
and  tradition ;  and  does  it  not  dishonour  him  to  separate  him 
from  this  sacred  union  and  .  .  . 

Tertullian  :  Nunquam  Ecclesia  reformabitur. 

Perpetuity. 

Molina. 

N  ovelty. 

Heretics  have  always  assailed  these  three  notes  which  they 
have  not. 

Those  wretches,  who  have  obliged  me  to  speak  on  the  foun¬ 
dations  of  Religion. 

Sinners  purified  without  penitence,  just  men  sanctified  without 
charity,  all  Christians  without  the  grace  of  Jesus  Christ,  God 
without  power  over  the  will  of  men,  a  predestination  without 
mystery,  a  redemption  without  certainty. 

Sinners  without  penitence,  just  men  without  charity,  a  God 
without  power  over  the  wills  of  men,  a  predestination  without 
mystery. 

Those  who  love  the  Church  complain  that  they  see  morals 
corrupted,  but  laws  at  least  exist.  But  these  corrupt  the  laws. 
The  model  is  spoiled. 

There  is  a  contradiction  ;  for  on  the  one  side  they  say  tradition 
must  be  followed,  and  would  not  dare  disavow  it,  and  on  the 
other  they  will  say  whatever  pleases  them.  The  former  will 
always  be  believed  in,  and  indeed  it  would  be  going  against 
them  not  to  believe  it. 

Politics—  We  have  found  two  obstacles  to  the  design  of  com¬ 
forting  men.  The  one  the  interior  laws  of  the  Gospel,  the 
other  the  exterior  laws  of  the  State  and  of  Religion. 

We  are  masters  of  the  one  set  of  laws,  the  others  we  have  dealt 
with  in  this  wise  :  Amplienda ,  restringenda ,  a  majori  ad  minus. 

Junior. 

Generals. — It  is  not  enough  for  them  to  introduce  such  morals 


JESUITS  AND  J A NSEN1STS.  277 

into  our  churches,  templis  inducere  mores.  Not  only  do  they  wish 
to  be  tolerated  in  the  Church,  but  as  though  they  had  become 
the  stronger,  they  would  expel  those  who  are  not  of  them 
Mohatra.  He  who  is  astonished  at  this  is  no  theologian. 
Who  would  have  told  your  generals  that  the  time  was  so  near 
when  they  would  give  laws  to  the  Church  universal,  and 

would  call  the  refusal  of  such  disorders  war,  tot  et  tanta  mala 
pacem. 

They  cannot  have  perpetuity,  and  they  seek  universality ; 
therefore  they  make  the  whole  Church  corrupt,  that  they  may  be 
saints. 

You  abuse  the  credence  which  the  people  has  in  the  Church, 
and  make  them  believe  untruth. 

I  suppose  that  men  believe  the  miracles  : 

You  corrupt  Religion  either  in  favour  of  your  friends,  or 
against  your  enemies.  You  dispose  of  all  at  your  will. 

So  that  if  it  be  true  on  the  one  hand  that  some  lax  religious, 
and  some  corrupt  casuists,  who  are  not  members  of  the  hierarchy, 
are  steeped  in  these  corruptions,  it  is  on  the  other  hand  certain 
that  the  true  pastors  of  the  Church,  who  are  the  true  depositories 
of  the  divine  word,  have  preserved  it  unchangeably  against  the 
efforts  of  those  who  have  striven  to  ruin  it. 

And  thus  the  faithful  have  no  pretext  to  follow  that  laxity 
which  is  only  offered  them  by  the  stranger  hands  of  these 
casuists,  instead  of  the  .sound  doctrine  which  is  presented  to 
them  by  the  fatherly  hands  of  their  own  pastors.  And  the 
wicked  and  heretics  have  no  reason  to  put  forward  these 
abuses  as  marks  of  the  defective  providence  of  God  over  his 
Church,  since  the  Church  having  her  true  existence  in  the  body 
of  the  hierarchy,  it  is  so  far  from  the  present  condition  of 
things  being  a  proof  that  God  has  abandoned  her  to  corruption, 
that  it  has  never  so  plainly  appeared  as  at  the  present  day  that 
God  visibly  defends  her  from  corruption. 

For  if  some  of  these  men,  who  by  an  extraordinary  vocation 


278  JESUITS  AND  JANSENISTS. 

have  made  profession  of  retirement  from  the  world,  and  have 
adopted  the  religious  dress,  that  they  might  live  in  a  more  per¬ 
fect  state  than  ordinary  Christians,  have  fallen  into  disorders 
which  horrify  ordinary  Christians,  and  have  become  among  us 
what  the  false  prophets  were  among  the  Jews  ;  this  is  a  private 
and  personal  matter,  which  we  must  indeed  deplore,  but  from 
which  we  can  conclude  nothing  against  the  care  which  God  takes 
for  his  Church ;  since  all  these  things  are  so  clearly  foretold,  and 
it  has  been  long  since  announced  that  temptations  would  arise 
on  account  of  such  persons,  so  that  when  we  are  well  instructed 
we  see  therein  rather  the  notes  of  the  guidance  of  God  than 
his  forgetfulness  in  regard  to  us. 

You  are  ignorant  of  the  prophecies  if  you  do  not  know  that 
all  this  must  needs  happen,  princes,  prophets,  pope,  and  even 
the  priests.  And  yet  the  Church  must  abide.  By  the  grace 
of  God  we  are  not  so  far  gone.  Woe  to  these  priests.  But  we 
hope  that  God  will  of  his  mercy  grant  us  that  we  be  not  among 
them. 

2  Saint  Peter  ii.  False  prophets  in  the  past  the  image  of  the 
future. 

Is  Est  and  non  est  received  in  faith  as  well  as  in  miracles,  and 
is  it  inseparable  in  the  others  ?  .  .  . 

When  Saint  Xavier  works  miracles  .  .  . 

Saint  Hilary. — These  wretches  who  have  obliged  us  to  speak 
of  miracles. 

Vcc  qui  conditis  leges  iniquas. 

Unjust  judges,  make  not  your  laws  on  the  moment,  judge  by 
those  which  are  established,  and  by  yourselves. 

To  weaken  your  adversaries  you  disarm  the  whole  Church. 

If  they  say  that  our  safety  depends  on  God,  they  are  heretics. 

If  they  say  they  are  under  obedience  to  the  pope,  that  is 
hypocrisy. 

If  they  are  ready  to  assent  to  all  the  articles,  that  is  not 
enough. 

If  they  say  that  no  man  should  be  killed  for  an  apple,  they 
assail  the  morality  of  Catholics. 


JESUITS  AND  JANSENISTS. 


279 


If  miracles  are  wrought  among  them,  it  is  no  mark  of  holiness, 
but  rather  a  suspicion  of  heresy. 

The  hardness  of  the  Jesuits  therefore  surpasses  that  of  the  Jews, 
since  those  refused  to  believe  Jesus  Christ  innocent  only  because 
they  doubted  if  his  miracles  were  of  God.  But  on  the  contrary, 
though  the  Jesuits  cannot  doubt  that  the  Port  Royal  miracles 
were  of  God,  they  still  continue  to  doubt  the  innocency  of  that 
house. 

Men  never  commit  evil  so  fully  and  so  gaily  as  when  they  do 
so  for  conscience  sake. 

Experience  shows  us  a  vast  difference  between  devoutness 
and  goodness. 

The  two  contrary  reasons.  We  must  begin  with  that  ;  without 
that  we  understand  nothing  and  all  is  heretical ;  in  the  same 
way  we  must  even  add  at  the  close  of  each  truth  that  the  oppo¬ 
site  truth  is  to  be  remembered. 

If  there  was  ever  a  time  in  which  it  were  necessary  to  make 
profession  of  two  contraries,  it  is  when  we  are  reproached  for 
omitting  one.  Therefore  the  Jesuits  and  the  Jansenistsare  wrong 
in  concealing  them,  but  the  Jansenists  most,  for  the  Jesuits  have 
better  made  profession  of  the  two. 

M.  de  Condran.  There  is,  he  says,  no  comparison  between  the 
union  of  the  saints  and  that  of  the  Holy  Trinity.  Jesus  Christ 
says  the  opposite. 

That  we  have  treated  them  as  kindly  as  is  possible  while 
keeping  ourselves  in  the  mean,  between  the  love  of  truth  and  the 
duty  of  charity. 

That  piety  does  not  consist  in  never  opposing  our  brethren, 
it  would  be  very  easy,  etc. 

It  is  false  piety  to  keep  peace  to  the  prejudice  of  the  truth. 
It  is  also  false  zeal  to  keep  truth  and  wound  charity. 

Neither  have  they  complained. 

Their  maxims  have  their  time  and  place. 


28o 


JESUITS  AND  JANSENISTS. 


Ke  will  be  condemned  indeed  who  is  so  by  Escobar. 

Their  vanity  tends  to  grow  out  of  their  errors. 

Conformed  to  the  fathers  by  their  faults,  and  to  the  martyrs 
by  their  sufferings. 

Moreover  they  do  not  disavow  any  of  .  .  . 

They  had  only  to  take  the  passage,  and  disavow  it. 

S anctijicavi  prcelium. 

M.  Bourseys.  At  least  they  cannot  disavow  that  they  are 
opposed  to  the  condemnation. 

I  have  re-read  them  since,  for  I  had  not  known  them  .  .  . 

The  world  must  be  blind  indeed  if  it  believe  you. 

* 

If  men  knew  themselves,  God  would  heal  and  pardon.  Ne 
convert antur ,  et  sauem  eos,  et  dimittantur  eis peccata.  Isaiah. 
Matt.  xiii. 

Truth  is  so  obscure  in  these  days,  and  falsehood  so  established, 
that  unless  we  love  the  truth  we  shall  be  unable  to  know  it. 

As  Jesus  Christ  remained  unknown  among  men,  so  his  truth 
remains  among  ordinary  opinions  without  external  difference. 
Thus  the  Eucharist  among  ordinary  bread.  All  faith  consists 
in  Jesus  Christ  and  in  Adam,  and  all  morals  in  lust  and  in  grace. 

“  I  have  reserved  me  seven  thousand.”  I  love  the  worship¬ 
pers  unknown  to  the  world  and  even  to  the  prophets. 

To  trust  in  forms  is  superstition,  but  to  refuse  to  submit  to 
forms  is  pride. 

As  peace  in  States  has  for  its  sole  object  the  safe  preservation 
of  the  property  of  the  people,  so  the  peace  of  the  Church  has  for 
its  sole  object  the  safe  preservation  of  truth,  her  property  and 
the  treasure  where  her  heart  is.  And  as  to  allow  the  enemy  to 
enter  into  a  State,  and  pillage  without  opposition,  for  fear  of 
troubling  repose,  would  be  to  work  against  the  good  of  peace,  be- 


28i 


JESUITS  AMD  J A  NSENISTS. 

cause  peace,  being  only  just  and  useful  for  the  security  of  property, 
it  becomes  unjust  and  harmful  when  it  suffers  property  to  be  de¬ 
stroyed,  while  war  in  the  defence  of  property  becomes  just  and 
necessary.  So  in  the  Church,  when  truth  is  assailed  by  the 
enemies  of  faith,  when  men  would  tear  it  from  the  heart  of  the 
faithful,  and  cause  error  to  reign  there,  to  remain  in  peace  is 
rather  to  betray  than  to  serve  the  Church,  to  ruin  rather  than 
defend.  And  as  it  is  plainly  a  crime  to  trouble  peace  where 
truth  reigns,  so  is  it  also  a  crime  to  rest  in  peace  when  truth  is 
destroyed.  There  is  then  a  time  when  peace  is  just,  and  another 
when  it  is  unjust.  And  it  is  written  that  there  is  a  time  for  peace 
and  a  time  for  war,  and  it  is  the  interest  of  truth  to  discern  them. 
But  there  is  not  a  time  for  truth  and  a  time  for  error,  and  it  is 
written,  on  the  contrary,  that  the  truth  of  God  abideth  for  ever ; 
and  this  is  why  Jesus  Christ,  who  said  that  he  came  to  bring 
peace,  said  also  that  he  came  to  bring  urar.  But  he  did  not 
say  that  he  came  to  bring  both  truth  and  falsehood.  Truth  is 
then  the  first  rule  and  the  ultimate  end  of  things. 

As  the  two  principal  interests  of  the  Church  are  the  preservation 
of  the  piety  of  the  faithful  and  the  conversion  of  heretics,  we  are 
overwhelmed  with  grief  at  the  sight  of  factions  now  arising,  to 
introduce  those  errors  which  more  than  any  others  may  close 
for  ever  against  heretics  the  entrance  into  our  communion, 
and  fatally  corrupt  those  pious  and  catholic  persons  who  remain 
to  us.  This  enterprise,  made  at  the  present  day  so  openly  against 
those  truths  of  Religion  most  important  for  salvation,  fills  us 
not  only  with  displeasure,  but  also  with  fear  and  even  terror, 
because,  besides  the  feeling  which  every  Christian  must  have 
of  these  disorders,  we  have  further  an  obligation  to  remedy 
them,  and  to  employ  the  authority  which  God  has  given,  to 
cause  that  the  peoples  which  he  has  committed  to  us,  etc. 


We  must  let  heretics  know,  who  gain  advantage  from  the  doc¬ 
trine  of  the  Jesuits,  that  it  is  not  that  of  the  Church  ...  the 

doctrine  of  the  Church,  and  that  our  divisions  separate  us  not 
from  the  altar. 


282 


JESUITS  AND  JANSENISTS. 


They  hide  themselves  in  the  crowd,  and  call  numbers  to 
their  aid. 

Tumult. 

In  corrupting  the  bishops  and  the  Sorbonne,  if  they  have  not 
had  the  advantage  of  making  their  judgment  just,  they  have  had 
that  of  making  their  judges  unjust.  And  thus,  when  in  future 
they  are  condemned,  they  will  say  ad  hoimnern  that  they  aie 
unjust,  and  thus  will  refute  their  judgment.  But  that  does  no 
good.  For  as  they  cannot  conclude  that  the  Jansenists  are 
rightly  condemned  because  they  are  condemned,  so  they  cannot 
conclude  then  that  they  themselves  will  be  wrongly  condemned 
because  they  will  be'  so  by  corruptible  judges.  For  their 
condemnation  will  be  just,  not  because  it  will  be  given  by  judges 
always  just,  but  by  judges  just  in  that  particular,  which  will  be 

shown  by  other  proofs. 

These  are  the  effects  of  the  sins  of  the  peoples  and  of  the 
Jesuits,  great  men  have  wished  to  be  flattered,  the  Jesuits  have 
wished  to  be  loved  by  the  great.  They  have  all  been  worthy 
to  be  given  up  to  the  spirit  of  lying,  the  one  party  to  deceive, 
the  others  to  be  deceived.  They  have  been  greedy,  ambitious, 
pleasure  loving  :  Coacervabunt  tibi  magistros. 

The  Jesuits. 

The  Jesuits  have  wished  to  unite  God  and  the  world,  and  have 
gained  only  the  scorn  of  God  and  the  world.  For,  on  the  side 
of  conscience  this  is  plain,  and  on  the  side  of  the  world  they  are 
not  good  partisans.  They  have  power,  as  I  have  often  said,  but 
that  is  in  regard  to  other  religious.  They  will  have  interest 
enough  to  get  a  chapel  built,  and  to  have  a  jubilee  station,  not 
to  make  appointments  to  bishoprics  and  government  offices. 
The  position  of  a  monk  in  the  world  is  a  most  foolish  one, 
and  that  they  hold  by  their  own  declaration.— Father  Brisacier, 
the  Benedictines— Yet  .  .  .  you  yield  to  those  more  powerful 
than  yourselves,  and  oppress  with  all  your  little  credit  those 
who  have  less  power  for  intrigue  in  the  world  than  you. 


JESUITS  AND  JANSENISTS. 


283 


Venice . — What  advantage  will  you  draw  from  it,  except  the 
princes’  need  of  it,  and  the  horror  the  nations  have  had  of  it. 
If  these  had  asked  you  and,  in  order  to  obtain  it,  had  implored 
the  assistance  of  all  Christian  princes,  you  might  have  boasted 
of  this  importunity.  But  not  that  during  fifty  years  all  the 
princes  have  exerted  themselves  for  it  in  vain,  and  that  it 
required  such  a  pressing  need  to  obtain  it. 

If  by  differing  we  condemned,  you  would  be  right.  Uniformity 
without  diversity  is  useless  to  others,  diversity  without  uniformity 
is  ruinous  for  us.  The  one  injures  us  without;  the  other  within. 

We  ought  to  near  both  parties,  and  on  this  point  I  have  been 
careful. 

When  we  have  heard  only  one  party  we  are  always  on  that 
side,  but  the  adverse  party  makes  us  change,  whereas  in  this 
case  the  Jesuit  confirms  us. 

Not  what  they  do,  but  what  they  say. 

They  cry  out  against  me  only.  I  am  content.  I  know  whom 
to  blame  for  it. 

Jesus  Christ  was  a  stone  of  stumbling. 

Condemnable,  condemned. 

Jesus  Christ  never  condemned  without  a  hearing.  To  Tudas  : 
Amice ,  ad  quid  venisti?  To  him  who  had  not  on  the  wedding 
garment,  the  same. 

Unless  they  give  up  probability  their  good  maxims  are  as  little 
holy  as  the  bad.  For  they  are  founded  on  human  authority, 
and  thus  if  they  are  more  just  they  will  be  more  reasonable,  but 
not  more  holy,  they  take  after  the  wild  stock  on  which  they  are 
graffed. 

If  what  I  say  serves  not  to  enlighten  you,  it  will  aid  the  people. 
—  If  these  hold  their  peace,  the  stones  will  cry  out. 

Silence  is  the  greatest  persecution  ;  the  saints  never  held  then- 
peace.  It  is  true  that  a  vocation  is  needed,  it  is  not  from  the 
decrees  of  the  Council  that  we  must  learn  whether  we  are  called, 
but  from  the  compulsion  to  speak.  Now  after  Rome  has  spoken, 


284  JESUITS  AND  JANSENISTS. 

and  we  think  that  she  has  condemned  the  truth,  and  they  have 
written  it,  and  the  books  which  have  said  the  contrary  are 
censured ;  we  must  cry  so  much  the  louder  the  more  unjustly 
we  are  censured,  and  the  more  violently  they  try  to  stifle 
speech,  until  there  come  a  pope  who  listens  to  both  sides,  and 
who  consults  antiquity  to  do  justice. 

So  good  popes  will  find  the  Church  still  in  an  uproar. 

The  Inquisition  and  the  Society  are  the  two  scourges  of  the 
truth. 

Why  do  you  not  accuse  them  of  Arianism?  For  if  they  have 
said  that  Jesus  Christ  is  God,  perhaps  it  is  not  with  a  natural 
meaning,  but  as  it  is  said  :  Dii  estis. 

If  my  Letters  are  condemned  at  Rome,  what  I  condemn  in 
them  is  condemned  in  heaven. 

Ad  tuum ,  Domine  Jesu ,  tribunal  appello. 

You  are  yourselves  corruptible. 

I  feared. that  I  had  written  ill  when  I  saw  myself  condemned, 
but  the  example  of  so  many  pious  writings  makes  me  believe  the 
contrary.  Good  writing  is  no  longer  permitted,  so  corrupt  or 
ignorant  is  the  Inquisition. 

It  is  better  to  obey  God  than  men. 

I  have  neither  fear  nor  hope.  Not  so  the  bishops.  Port  Royal 
fears,  and  it  is  a  bad  policy  to  dissolve  the  community,  for  they 
will  fear  no  longer  and  will  inspire  greater  fear. 

I  fear  not  even  your  censures,  ...  if  they  be  not  founded  on 
those  of  tradition. 

Do  you  censure  all?  What,  even  my  respect? — No. — Say 
then,  what  it  is,  or  you  will  do  nothing,  since  you  do  not  point  out 
the  evil,  and  why  it  is  evil.  And  this  is  what  they  will  have 
some  trouble  to  do. 

Unjust  persecutors  of  those  whom  God  visibly  protects. 

If  they  reproach  you  with  your  excesses  they  speak  as  do  the 
heretics. 

If  they  say  that  the  grace  of  Jesus  Christ  separates  us,  they  are 
heretics. 

If  miracles  are  wrought,  it  is  vhe  mark  of  their  heresy. 

Ezekiel, 


JESUITS  AND  JANSEN/STS. 


285 


They  say,  these  are  the  people  of  God  who  thus  speak. 

Hezekiah, 

My  reverend  father,  all  this  was  done  in  figures.  Other  reli¬ 
gions  perish,  this  one  perishes  not. 

Miracles  are  more  important  than  you  think,  they  have  served 
for  the  foundation,  and  will  serve  for  the  continuance  of  the 
Church  till  the  coming  of  Antichrist,  till  the  end. 

The  two  witnesses. 

In  the  Old  Testament  and  the  New,  miracles  are  wrought 
in  connection  with  types.  Salvation  or  an  useless  thing,  if  not 
to  show  that  we  must  submit  to  the  creature. — Figure  of  the 
sacraments. 

The  synagogue  was  a  figure  and  so  it  perished  not,  and  it  was 
only  the  figure  and  so  it  has  perished.  It  was  a  figure  which 
contained  the  truth,  and  so  it  subsisted  till  it  contained  the  truth 
no  longer. 

The  exaggerated  notion  which  you  have  of  the  importance  of 
your  society  has  made  you  establish  these  horrible  ways.  It  is 
very  plain  that  it  has  made  you  follow  the  way  of  slander,  since 
you  blame  in  me  as  horrible  the  same  impostures  which  you 
excuse  in  yourselves,  because  you  regard  me  as  a  private  person, 
and  yourselves  as  imago. 

It  plainly  appears  that  your  praises  are  follies,  by  those  which 
are  crazy,  as  the  privilege  of  the  uncondemned. 

Is  this  giving  courage  to  your  children  to  condemn  them  when 
they  serve  the  Church  ? 

It  is  an  artifice  of  the  devil  to  turn  in  another  direction  the 
arms  with  which  these,  people  used  to  combat  heresies. 

You  are  bad  politicians. 

The  history  of  the  man  born  blind. 

What  says  Saint  Paul?  Does  he  constantly  speak  of  the 
bearing  of  prophecies  ?  No,  but  of  his  miracles. 

What  says  Jesus  Christ?  Does  he  expound  the  bearing  of 
the  prophecies  ?  No,  his  death  had  not  fulfilled  them  ;  but  he 
says,  si  non  fecissem  :  believe  the  works. 

Si  non  fecissem  qnce  alius  non  fecit. 

These  wretches  who  have  obliged  us  to  speak  of  miracles  ! 


286 


JESUITS  AND  JANSEN/STS. 


Abraham  and  Gideon  confirmed  faith  by  miracles. 

There  are  two  supernatural  foundations  of  our  wholly  super¬ 
natural  Religion,  the  one  visible,  the  other  invisible. 

Miracles  with  grace,  miracles  without  grace. 

The  synagogue,  which  has  been  treated  with  love  as  a  figure  of 
the  Church,  and  with  hatred  because  it  was  only  the  figure,  has 
been  restored,  being  about  to  fall  when  it  was  well  with  God,  and 
thus  a  figure. 

The  miracles  prove  the  power  which  God  has  over  hearts  by 
that  which  he  exercises  over  the  body. 

The  Church  has  never  approved  a  miracle  among  heretics. 

Miracles  are  a  support  of  religion.  They  have  been  the 
test  of  Jews,  of  Christians,  of  saints,  of  innocents,  and  of  true 
believers. 

A  miracle  among  schismatics  is  not  much  to  be  feared,  for 
schism  which  is  more  evident  than  miracle,  evidently  marks  their 
error  ;  but  when  there  is  no  schism,  and  error  is  in  question, 
miracle  is  the  test. 

Judith.  God  speaks  at  length  in  their  extreme  oppression. 

If  because  charity  has  grown  cold  the  Church  is  left  almost 
without  true  worshippers,  miracles  will  raise  them  up. 

This  is  one  of  the  last  effects  of  grace. 

If  only  a  miracle  were  wrought  among  the  Jesuits  ! 

When  a  miracle  deceives  the  expectation  of  those  in  whose 
presence  it  occurs,  and  when  there  is  a  disproportion  between 
the  state  of  their  faith  and  the  instrument  of  the  miracle  it  must 
lead  them  to  change  ;  but  with  you  it  is  the  opposite.  There 
would  be  as  much  reason  in  saying  that  if  the  Eucharist  raised 
a  dead  man  one  ought  to  turn  Calvinist  rather  than  remain 
a  Catholic.  But  when  he  crowns  the  expectation,  and  those  ,who 
have  hoped  that  God  would  bless  the  remedies  see  themselves 
cured  without  remedies  .  .  . 

Ihe  wicked. — No  sign  was  ever  given  on  the  part  of  the  devil 
without  a  stronger  sign  on  the  part  of  God,  at  least  unless  it 
were  foretold  that  this  would  be  so. 

These  nuns,  amazed  at  what  is  said,  that  they  are  in  the 


287 


JESUITS  AND  JANSEN/STS. 

way  of  perdition,  that  their  confessors  are  leading  them  to 
Geneva,  and  teach  them  Jesus  Christ  is  not  in  the  Eucharist, 
nor  on  the  right  hand  of  the  Father,  know  all  this  to  be 
false,  and  offer  then  themselves  to  God  in  that  state.  Vide 
si  via  imquitatis  in  me  est.  What  happens  thereupon  ? 
1  he  place,  which  is  said  to  be  the  temple  of  the  devil,  God 
makes  his  own  temple.  It  is  said  that,  the  children  must 
be  taken  away,  God  heals  them  there.  It  is  said  to  be  hell’s 
arsenal,  God  makes  of  it  the  sanctuary  of  his  graces.  Lastly, 
they  are  threatened  with  all  the  furies  and  all  the  vengeance  of 
heaven,  and  God  loads  them  with  favours.  Those  must 
have  lost  their  senses,  who  therefore  believe  them  in  the 
way  of  perdition.  IVe  have,  without  doubt ,  the  same  tokens  as 
Saint  Athanasius. — 

The  five  propositions  were  equivocal  ;  they  are  so  no 
longer. 

With  so  many  other  signs  of  piety  they  have  that  of  persecu¬ 
tion  also,  which  is  the  best  mark  of  piety. 

By  showing  the  truth  we  gain  belief  for  it,  but  by  showing 
the  injustice  of  ministers,  we  do  not  correct  it.  Conscience  is 
made  secure  by  a  demonstration  of  falsehood  ;  our  purse  is  not 
made  secure  by  the  demonstration  of  injustice. 

Miracles  and  truth  are  both  needful,  as  we  have  to  convince 
the  whole  man,  body  and  soul  alike. 

It  is  good  that  their  deeds  should  be  unjust,  for  fear  it  should 
not  appear  that  the  Molinists  have  acted  justly.  Thus  there 
is  no  need  to  spare  them,  they  are  worthy  to  commit  them. 

The  Church,  the  Pope.  Unity,  plurality.  Considering  the 
Church  as  unity,  the  pope  its  head,  is  as  the  whole ;  considered 
as  plurality,  the  pope  is  only  a  part  of  it.  The  Fathers  have 
considered  the  Church  now  in  this  way,  now  in  that,  and  thus 
they  have  spoken  in  divers  ways  of  the  pope. 

Saint  Cyprian,  sacerdos  Dei. 


288 


JESUITS  AND  JANSENISTS. 

But  in  establishing  one  of  these  two  truths,  they  have  not  ex¬ 
cluded  the  other. 

Plurality  which  cannot  be  reduced  to  unity  is  confusion.  Unity 
which  depends  not  on  plurality  is  tyranny. 

There  is  scarce  any  where  left  but  France  in  which  it  is 
allowable  to  say  that  a  council  is  below  the  pope. 

We  may  not  judge  of  what  the  pope  is  by  some  words  of  the 
Fathers— as  the  Greeks  said  in  a  council,  important  rules— but 
by  the  acts  of  the  Church  and  the  Fathers,  and  by  the  canons. 

Unity  and  plurality  :  Duo  aut  ires  in  unum.  It  is  an  error 
to  exclude  one  of  the  two,  as  the  papists  do  who  exclude  plurality, 
or  the  Hur  mots  who  exclude  unity. 

The  pope  is  chief,  who  else  is  known  of  all,  who  else  is 
recognised  by  all?  Having  power  to  insinuate  himself  into  all 
the  body,  because  he  holds  the  leading  shoot,  which  extends 
itself  everywhere. 

How  easy  to  cause  this  to  degenerate  into  tyranny.  This  is 
why  Jesus  Christ  has  laid  down  for  them  this  precept  :  Vos 
autern  non  sic. 

God  works  not  miracles  in  the  ordinary  conduct  of  his  Church. 
It  would  be  a  strange  miracle,  did  infallibility  reside  in  one,  but 
that  it  should  dwell  in  a  multitude  appears  so  natural  that  the 
ways  of  God  are  concealed  under  nature,  as  all  his  other  works. 

Men  desire  certainty,  they  like  the  pope  to  be  infallible  in 
faith,  grave  doctors  to  be  infallible  in  morals,  in  order  to  have 
certainty. 

The  pope  hates  and  fears  men  of  science,  who  are  not  at  once 
submissive  to  him. 

Kings  are  masters  of  their  own  power,  not  so  the  popes. 

Whenever  the  Jesuits  take  the  pope  unawares,  they  will  make 
all  Christendom  perjured. 

It  is  very  easy  to  take  the  pope  unawares,  because  of  his 
occupations,  and  the  trust  which  he  has  in  the  Jesuits,  and 


JESUITS  AND  JANSEN1STS. 


289 

If  calumny  are  ***  °f  taki"S  Wm  UnaWareS  by  means 

The  five  propositions  condemned,  yet  no  miracle,  for  truth  was 
not  attacked,  but  the  Sorbonne  and  the  bull. 

It  is  impossible  that  those  who  love  God  with  all  their  heart 
should  misunderstand  the  Church,  which  is  so  evident 

It  is  impossible  that  those  who  love  not  God  should  be  con¬ 
vinced  of  the  Church. 

Let  us  look  to  the  discourses  on  the  and,  4th,  and  5th  of  the 
Jansemst.  They  are  lofty  and  grave. 

We  would  not  make  a  friend  of  either. 

The  ear  only  is  consulted  because  the  heart  is  wanting. 

Beauty  of  omission,  of  judgment. 

The  rule  is  that  of  honourable  conduct. 

Poet  and  not  honourable  man. 

These  men  want  heart. 

We  would  not  make  a  friend  of  him. 

For  this  name  of  honourable  man. 

Canonical.- The  heretical  books  in  the  early  age  of  the  Church 
serve  to  prove  the  canonical. 

.N‘ ni‘h'7f-7kul  AU  the  heathens  sPake  evil  of  Israel,  and 
the  Prophet  did  the  same,  yet  the  Israelites  were  so  far  from 

.aV‘"g  a  r'ght  1°  Say  ‘°  h‘m’  “You  sPeak  as  the  heathen," 
that  he  made  it  his  strongest  point  that  the  heathens  said  the 
same  as  he. 

Those  are  feeble  souls  who  know  the  truth,  and  uphold  it  only 
so  far  as  their  interest  is  concerned,  but  beyond  that  abandon  it. 

Annat.  He  makes  the  disciple  without  ignorance,  and  the 
master  without  presumption. 

There  is  such  great  disproportion  between  the  merit  which  he 

u 


29o  JESUITS  AND  JANSENISTS. 

thinks  he  has  and  his  stupidity.,  that  it  is  hard  to  believe  he 
mistakes  himself  so  completely. 

And  will  this  one  scorn  the  other  ? 

Who  should  scorn?  Yet  he  scorns  not  the  other,  but  pities 
him. 

Port  Royal  is  surely  as  good  as  Voltigerod. 

So  far  as  your  proceeding  is  just  according  to  this  bias,  so 

far  is  it  unjust  on  the  side  of  Christian  piety. 

Montalte.—  Lax  opinions  are  so  pleasing  to  men,  that  it  is 
strange  that  theirs  displease.  It  is  because  they  have  exceeded 
all  bounds  ;  and  more,  there  are  many  persons  who  see  the 
truth,  yet  cannot  attain  to  it ;  but  there  are  few  who  do  not  know 
that  the  purity  of  religion  is  contrary  to  our  corruptions.  It  is 
absurd  to  say  that  eternal  reward  is  offered  to  the  morals  of 

Escobar. 

But  is  it  ■probable  that probability  gives  certainty  ?  Difference 
between  rest  and  security  of  conscience.  Nothing  but  truth  gives 
certainty.  Nothing  gives  rest  but  a  sincere  search  after  truth. 

Probability.  They  have  oddly  explained  certainty,  for  after 
having  established  that  all  their  ways  are  sure,  they  no  longer 
call  that  sure  which  leads  to  heaven  without  danger  of  not 
arriving  thereby,  but  that  which  leads  there  without  danger  of 
going  out  of  the  road. 

Now  probability  is  necessary  for  the  other  maxims,  as  for  that 

of  the  friend  and  the  slanderer. 

A  fnictibiis  eorwn ,  judge  of  their  faith  by  their  morals. 
Probability  is  little  without  corrupt  means,  and  means  are 
nothing  without  probability. 

There  is  pleasure  in  being  able  to  do  good,  and  in  knowing 
how  to  do  good,  scire  et  posse.  Grace  and  probability  give  this 
pleasure,  for  we  can  render  our  account  to  God  in  reliance 

upon  their  authors. 


JESUITS  AND  / A  NS E NTS  TS. 


291 


Probability. 

Everyone  can  impose  it,  none  can  take  it  away. 


-If  as  bad  reasons  as  these  are  probable,  all  would 


P rob  able. ■ 
be  so. 

1.  Reason.  Do  minus  act  man  conjugalium.  Molina. 

2.  Reason.  Non  potest  compensari.  Lessius. 

To  oppose  not  with  holy,  but  with  abominable  maxims. 

They  reason  as  those  who  prove  that  it  is  night  at  middav 
liauny,  the  burner  of  barns. 

...  The  Council  of  Trent  for  priests  in  mortal  sin  :  quam 
pnmum  ...  y 


com- 


Probable.  Let  us  see  if  we  seek  God  sincerely,  by  the 
panson  of  things  we  love.  J 

It  is  probable  that  this  meat  will  not  poison  me. 

It  is  probable  that  I  shall  not  lose  my  law  suit  if  I  do  not 
bring  it. 


If  it  were  true  that  grave  authors  and  reasons  would  suffice  I 
say  that  they  are  neither  grave  nor  reasonable.  What !  a  hus- 
and  may  make  profit  of  his  wife  according  to  Molina  Is 
the  reason  he  gives  reasonable,  and  the  contrary  one  of  Lessius 
reasonable  also  ? 


Would  you  dare  thus  to  trifle  with  the  edicts  of  the  Kin-  as 

by  saying  that  to  go  for  a  walk  in  a  field  and  wait  for  a  ma°n  is 
not  to  fight  a  duel ; 

That  the  Church  has  indeed  forbidden  duelling,  but  not 
taking  a  walk  ? 

And  usury  too,  but  not  .  .  . 

And  simony,  but  not  .  .  . 

And  vengeance,  but  not  .  .  . 

And  unnatural  crime,  but  not 

And  quam  primum ,  but  not 


Take  away  probability ,  and 
world,  give  probability ,  and  you 


you  can  no  longer  please  the 
can  no  longer  displease  it. 


292 


JESUITS  AND  JANSENISTS. 


Universal- Morals  and  language  are  special  but  universal 
sciences. 

Probability— The  zeal  of  the  saints  to  seek  the  truth,  was 

useless  if  the  probable  is  certain. 

The  fear  of  the  saints  who  have  always  followed  the  surest  way. 
Saint  Theresa  having  always  followed  her  confessor. 


Probability. — They  have  some  true  principles,  but  they  abuse 
them.  Now  the  abuse  of  truth  should  be  as  much  punished  as 
the  introduction  of  falsehood. 

As  if  there  were  two  hells,  one  for  sins  against  charity,  the 
other  for  sins. against  justice. 


Men  who  do  not  keep  their  word,  without  faith,  without  honour, 
without  truth,  double  hearted,  double  tongued,  like  the  reproach 
once  flung  at  that  amphibious  creature  in  the  fable,  who  kept 
itself  in  a  doubtful  position  between  the  fish  and  the  biids. 

It  is  of  importance  to  kings  and  princes  to  be  supposed 
pious,  and  therefore  they  must  take  you  for  their  confessors. 

State  super  vias  et  interrogate  de  senutis  antiquis ,  et  ambulate 
in  eis.  Et  dixerunt :  Non  ambulabimus ,  scd  post  cogitationem 
nostrum  ibimus.  They  have  said  to  the  nations  :  Come  to  us, 
we  will  follow  the  opinions  of  the  new  authors,  reason  shall  be 
our  guide,  we  will  be  as  the  other  nations  who  follow  each  their 

natural  light.  Philosophers  have  .  .  . 

All  religions  and  sects  in  the  world  have  had  natural  reason 
for  a  guide.  Christians  alone  have  been  obliged  to  take  their  rules 
from  without  themselves,  and  to  acquaint  themselves  with  those 
which  Jesus  Christ  left  to  men  of  old  time  to  be  transmitted  to  the 
faithful.  This  constraint  is  wearisome  to  these  good  fathers. 
They  desire  like  the  rest  of  the  world  to  have  liberty  to  follow 
their  imaginations.  In  vain  we  cry  to  them,  as  the  prophets  to 
the  Jews  of  old  :  “Enter  into  the  Church,  enquire  of  the  ways 
which  men  of  old  have  left  to  her,  and  follow  those  paths.”  They 
have  answered,  as  did  the  Jews,  “  We  will  not  walk  in  them,  but 


JESUITS  AND  JANSEN/STS.  293 

«wT»-n  h°'V  th?  th0U?htS  °f  our  hearts;”  and  they  have  said, 
We  will  be  as  the  nations  round  about  us.” 

Can  it  be  any  thing  but  the  desire  to  please  the  world  which 
makes  you  find  things  probable?  Will  you  make  us  believe 

a  ,.;t'5,trUth’  and  that  if  duel,in=  were  not  the  fashion,  you 
would  find  tt  probable  they  might  fight,  looking  at  the  matter  in 

The  whole  society  of  their  casuists  cannot  give  assurance  to  a 
"/el  “  “d  the,'ef°re  11  “  *  choose 

whI“y  "I!'1  m  d°Ubly  gU'lty’  b°th  'n  havinS  fo«owed  ways 
which  they  should  not  follow,  and  in  having  hearkened  to 

teachers  to  whom  they  should  not  hearken. 

Casuists  submit  the  decision  to  corrupt  reason,  and  the  choice 
of  decisions  to  corrupt  will,  so  that  all  that  is  corrupt  in  the 
nature  of  man  may  help  to  rule  his  conduct. 

They  al!ow  lust  free  play,  and  restrict  scruples,  whereas  they 
should  do  the  exact  contrary.  J 

Must  we  slay  in  order  that  the  wicked  may  cease  to  be  ? 

is  is  to  make  two  wicked  instead  of  one.  Vince  in  bono 
malum.  Saint  Augustine. 

The  servant  does  not  know  what  the  master  does,  for  the 
master  tells  him  only  the  act  and  not  the  purpose  ;  this  is  why 
he  is  so  often  slavishly  obedient  and  often  sins  against  the 
purpose.  But  Jesus  Christ  tells  us  the  purpose. 

And  you  destroy  this  purpose. 

th°“  leSS  a  slave  because  th>-  ma«er  loves  and  caresses 
hee  Thou  art  indeed  well  off,  slave.  Thy  master  caresses 
thee,  he  will  presently  beat  thee. 

Those  who  wrote  thus  in  Latin  speak  in  French. 

1  he  ^Vl1  having  been  done  of  putting  these  things  in  French 
we  ought  to  do  the  good  of  condemning  them. 


294  JESUITS  AND  JANSENISTS. 

There  is  one  only  heresy,  which  is  differently  explained  in  the 
schools  and  in  the  world. 

Oh  confessions  and  absolutions  without  signs  of  regret.  God 
looks  at  the  heart  alone,  the  Church  looks  at  outward  actions  , 
God  absolves  as  soon  as  he  sees  penitence  in  the  heart,  the  Church 
when  she  sees  it  in  works.  God  will  make  a  Church  puie 
within,  which  puts  to  confusion  by  its  interior  and  perfect  spiritual 
holiness  the  interior  impiety  of  proud  philosophers  and  Phari¬ 
sees,  and  the  Church  will  make  an  assembly  of  men  whose  external 
morals  are  so  pure  that  they  put  to  confusion  heathen  morals. 
If  some  are  hypocrites,  but  so  well  disguised  that  she  does  not 
recognise  their  venom,  she  bears  with  them,  for  though  they  are 
not  accepted  of  God,  whom  they  cannot  deceive,  they  are  of  men, 
whom  they  deceive.  And  thus  she  is  not  dishonoured  by  their 
conduct  which .  appears  holy.  But  you  will  have  it  that  the 
Church  should  judge  neither  of  the  heart,  for  that  belongs  to 
God  alone,  nor  of  works,  because  God  looks  at  the  heart  alone  ; 
and  so  taking  away  from  her  all  choice  of  men,  you  retain 
in  the  Church  the  most  debauched  and  those  who  so  greatly  dis¬ 
honour  her,  that  the  synagogues  of  the  Jews  and  the  sects  of 
the  philosophers  would  have  cast  them  out  as  unworthy,  and 
have  abhorred  them  as  impious. 

God  has  not  willed  to  absolve  without  the  Church.  As  she 
has  part  in  the  offence  he  wills  that  she  should  have  part  in  the 
pardon.  He  associates  her  with  this  power  as  kings  their 
parliaments  ;  but  if  she  binds  or  looses  without  God,  she  is 
no  more  the  Church,  as  in  the  case  of  parliament.  For  even 
if  the  king  have  pardoned  a  man,  it  is  necessary  that  it  should 
be  ratified  ;  but  if  the  parliament  ratifies  without  the  king,  or 
refuses  to  ratify  on  the  order  of  the  king,  it  is  no  more  the 
parliament  of  the  king,  but  a  revolutionary  body. 

The  Church  teaches  and  God  inspires,  both  infallibly.  The 
operation  of  the  Church  serves  only  to  prepare  for  grace  or 
for  condemnation.  What  it  does  suffices  for  condemnation, 
not  for  inspiration. 


JESUITS  AND  JANSENISTS. 


295 


The  Church  has  in  vain  established  these  words,  anathema, 
heresies.  They  are  used  against  herself. 

It  is  not  absolution  only  which  remits  sins  by  the  Sacrament 
of  Penance,  but  contrition,  which  is  not  a  true  contrition  if  it 
does  not  frequent  the  sacrament. 

Thus,  again,  it  is  not  the  nuptial  benediction  which  hinders 
sin  in  generation,  but  the  desire  of  begetting  children  for  God, 
which  is  no  true  desire  except  in  marriage. 

And  as  a  contrite  man  without  the  sacrament  is  more  disposed 
for  absolution  than  an  impenitent  man  with  the  sacrament,  so 
the  daughters  of  Lot,  for  instance,  who  had  only  the  desire  for 
children,  were  more  pure  without  marriage  than  married  persons 
without  desire  for  children. 

Casuists. — Much  almsgiving,  reasonable  penance ;  even 
when  we  cannot  assign  what  is  just,  we  see  plainly  what  is 
not.  It  is  strange  that  casuists  believe  they  can  interpret  this  as 
they  do. 

People  who  accustom  themselves  to  speak  ill  and  to  think  ill. 

Their  great  number,  far  from  marking  their  perfection,  marks 
the  contrary. 

The  humility  of  one  makes  the  pride  of  many. 

They  make  a  rule  of  the  exception.  I  f  the  ancient  fathers  gave 
absolution  before  penance  ;  do  this  only  as  an  exception. 
But  of  the  exception  you  make  a  rule  without  exception,  so  that 
you  will  not  even  have  it. that  the  rule  is  exceptional. 

Priest  still  who  will,  as  under  Jeroboam. 

It  is  a  horrible  thing  that  they  submit  to  us  the  discipline  of  the 
Church  in  our  days  as  so  excellent  that  it  is  made  a  crime  to  wish 
to  change  it.  Formerly  it  was  infallibly  good,  and  it  was  found 
it  might  be  changed  without  sin,  and  now,  such  as  it  is,  we  ought 
not  to  wish  it  changed  ! 

It  has  indeed  been  allowed  to  change  the  custom  of  not  making 
priests  save  with  such  great  circumspection,  that  there  were 


296 


JESUITS  AND  J A  N SEN  IS  TS. 


scarcely  any  who  were  worthy,  yet  we  are  not  allowed  to  com¬ 
plain  of  the  custom  which  makes  so  many  who  are  unworthy. 

Two  sorts  of  people  place  things  on  the  same  level,  as  feasts 
and  working  days,  Christians  and  priests,  all  sins  among  them¬ 
selves,  etc.  Therefore  the  one  set  conclude  that  what  is  bad 
for  priests  is  so  for  Christians,  and  the  other  that  what  is  not 
bad  for  Christians  is  permissible  for  priests. 

The  Jansenists  are  like  the  heretics  in  the  reformation  of  their 
morals,  but  you  are  like  them  in  evil. 

Superstition  to  believe  propositions,  etc. 

Faith,  etc. 

If  Saint  Augustine  came  at  this  day,  and  was  as  little  authorised 
as  his  defenders,  he  would  do  nothing.  God  governs  his  Church 
well,  in  that  he  sent  him  before  with  authority. 

Grace  is  needed  to  make  a  man  into  a  saint,  and  if  any 
man  doubt  this  he  knows  not  what  is  a  saint,  nor  what  is  a 
man. 

The  motions  of  grace,  hardness  of  heart,  external  circum¬ 
stances. 

Grace  will  ever  be  in  the  world,  and  nature  also,  so  that  grace 
is  in  some  sort  natural.  Thus  there  will  be  always  Pelagians, 
always  Catholics,  always  strife. 

Because  the  first  birth  constitutes  the  one,  and  the  grace  of 
regeneration  the  other. 

It  will  be  one  of  the  confusions  of  the  damned  to  see  themselves 
condemned  by  their  own  reason,  by  which  they  have  thought  to 
condemn  the  Christian  religion. 

When  it  is  said  that  Jesus  Christ  died  not  for  all,  you  take 
advantage  of  a  defect  inherent  in  men  who  immediately  apply 


JESUITS  AND  JANSENISTS.  297 

th.s  excepti°n  to  themselves,  which  is  to  favour  despair  instead 
of  turnmg  men  from  lt  t0  favour  hope.  For  so  we  accustom 
ourselves  to  interior  virtues  by  exterior  customs. 

There  is  heresy  m  always  explaining  o tunes  by  ‘all’  and 
leresy  in  not  explaining  it  sometimes  by  ‘all.’  Bibite  ex-  hoc 
omnes,  the  Huguenots  are  heretics  in  explaining  it  by  ‘all  ’ 
In  quo  omnes  fieccaverunt,  the  Huguenots  are  heretics  in  except- 
ing  the  children  of  the  faithful.  We  must  then  follow  the 
at  ers  and  tradition  to  know  when  to  do  so,  since  there  is  heresy 
to  be  feared  on  one  side  or  the  other. 


n  ht tT  0f£0r’n'~™tn  Saint  Peter  and  the  apostles  consulted 
about  the  abolition  of  circumcision,  when  it  was  a  question  of 

acting  in  contradiction  to  the  law  of  God,  they  did  not  consult 

the  prophets,  but  considered  simply  the  reception  of  the  Holy 

Spirit  in  the  persons  uncircumcised.  They  judged  it  more 

certain  that  God  approved  those  whom  he  filled  whh  his  s^dt 

than  it  was  that  the  law  must  be  observed  ’ 

They  knew  that  the  end  of  the  Law  was  none  other  than  the 
Holy  Spirit,  and  thus  as  men  certainly  had  this  without  circum- 
cision,  circumcision  was  not  needful. 


But  to  preserve  pre-eminence  to  himself  he  gives  prayer  to 
whom  he  pleases.  *  prayer  to 

Why  God  has  established  prayer. 

1.  To  communicate  to  his  creatures  the  dignity  of  causality. 

2.  i  o  teach  us  from  whom  our  virtue  comes. 

3-  To  make  us  deserve  other  virtues  by  work. 

?JeC‘Wn:  But 've  beIieve  tbat  Prayer  “mes  from  ourselves 
rhis  is  absurd,  for  since  before  we  have  faith,  we  cannot  have 

'idues,  how  should  we  have  faith  ?  Is  there  a  greater  distance 

et,7e"  ln“ellty  and  falth  than  between  faith  and  virtue  ? 
Merit.  This  word  is  ambiguous. 

Meruit  habere  Redemptorem. 

Meruit  tain  sacra  membra  tangere. 

Digna  tarn  sacra  membra  tangere. 


298  JESUITS  AND  JANSEN/STS. 

Non  stun  digitus ,  qui  manducat  indignus. 

Digitus  est  accipcre. 

Dignare  me. 

God  is  only  bound  according  to  his  promises. 

He  has  promised  to  do  justice  to  prayer,  he  has  never  pro¬ 
mised  prayer  only  to  the  children  of  promise. 

Si  does  not  mark  indifference.  Malachi,  Isaiah. 

Isaiah.  Si  volumus ,  etc. 

In  quacumque  die . 

Ne  tiineas,  pusillus  grex.  Timoreet  tremore. —  Quid  ergo?  Ne 
time  as,  mo  do,  tiineas. 

Fear  not,  provided  you  fear,  but  if  you  fear  not,  then  fear. 

Qui  me  recipit ,  non  me  recipit ,  sed  cum  qui  me  inisit. 

Nemo  scit  neque  Filius. 

Nubes  lucida  obumbravit. 

Saint  John  was  to  turn  the  hearts  of  the  fathers  to  the  children, 
and  Jesus  Christ  was  to  sow  division.  In  this  there  is  no 
contradiction. 

The  effects  in  communi  and  in  particulari.  The  semi-Pela- 
gians  err  in  saying  of  in  communi  what  is  true  only  in  particularly 
and  the  Calvinists  in  saying  in  particulari  what  is  true  in 
communi.  So  it  seems  to  me. 

Saint  Augustine  has  said  expressly  that  power  would  be  taken 
away  from  the  righteous.  But  it  is  by  chance  that  he  said  it,  for  it 
might  have  been  that  the  chance  of  saying  it  did  not  occur. 
But  his  principles  make  us  see  that  when  the  occasion  for  it 
presented  itself,  it  was  impossible  he  should  not  say  so,  or  that  he 
should  say  anything  to  the  contrary.  It  is  then  rather  that  he  was 
forced  to  say  it,  when  the  occasion  offered  itself,  than  that  he 
said  it,  the  occasion  having  offered  itself,  the  one  being  of  neces¬ 
sity,  the  other  of  chance.  But  the  two  are  all  that  we  could  ask. 

The  end.  Are  we  certain  ?  Is  this  principle  certain  ?  Let  us 


examine. 


JESUITS  AND  JANSENISTS.  299 

The  testimony  of  a  man’s  self  is  naught.  Saint  Thomas. 

The  image  alone  of  all  these  mysteries  has  been  openly 
showed  to  the  Jews  and  by  Saint  John  the  forerunner,  and  then 
the  other  mysteries,  to  mark  that  in  each  man  as  in  the  world  at 
large  this  order  must  be  observed. 

It  is,  in  technical  language,  wholly  the  body  of  Jesus  Christ, 
but  it  cannot  be  said  to  be  the  whole  body  of  Jesus  Christ. 

The  union  of  two  things  without  change  cannot  enable  us  to 
say  that  one  becomes  the  other. 

Thus  the  soul  is  united  to  the  body,  the  fire  to  the  fuel,  with¬ 
out  change. 

But  change  is  necessary  to  make  the  form  of  the  one  become 
the  form  of  the  other. 

Thus  the  union  of  the  Word  to  man. 

Because  my  body  without  my  soul  would  not  make  the  body 
of  a  man,  then  my  soul  united  to  any  matter  whatsoever  would 
make  my  body. 

It  distinguishes  for  me  the  necessary  condition  with  a  sufficient 
condition,  the  union  is  necessary,  but  not  sufficient. 

The  left  arm  is  not  the  right. 

Impenetrability  is  a  property  of  matter. 

Identity  of  number  in  regard  to  the  same  time  requires  the 
identity  of  matter. 

Thus  if  God  united  my  soul  to  a  body  in  China,  the  same  body, 
idem  numero  would  be  in  China. 

The  same  river  which  runs  there  is  idem  numero  as  that 
which  runs  at  the  same  time  in  China. 


THOUGHTS  ON  STYLE. 


Eloquence  is  an  art  of  saying  things  in  such  a  manner,  i,  that 
those  to  whom  we  speak  can  hear  them  without  pain,  and 
with  pleasure  ;  2,  that  they  feel  themselves  interested,  so  that 
self-love  leads  them  more  willingly  to  reflect  upon  what  is  said. 
It  consists  therefore  in  a  correspondence  which  we  endeavour  to 
establish  between  the  mind  and  the  heart  of  those  to  whom  we 
speak  on  the  one  hand,  and,  on  the  other,  the  thoughts  and  the 
expressions  employed  ;  this  supposes  that  we  have  thoroughly 
studied  the  heart  of  man  so  as  to  know  all  its  springs,  and  to  find 
at  last  the  true  proportions  of  the  discourse  we  wish  to  suit  to  it. 
We  should  put  ourselves  in  the  place  of  those  who  are  to  listen 
to  us,  and  make  experiment  on  our  own  heart  of  the  turn  we 
give  to  our  discourse,  to  see  whether  one  is  made  for  the  other, 
and  whether  we  can  be  sure  that  our  auditor  will  be  as  it  were 
forced  to  yield.  So  far  as  possible  we  must  confine  ourselves 
to  what  is  natural  and  simple,  not  aggrandise  that  which  is 
little,  or  belittle  that  which  is  great.  It  is  not  enough  that  a 
phrase  be  beautiful,  it  must  be  fitted  to  the  subject,  and  not 
have  in  it  excess  or  defect. 

Eloquence  is  painted  thought,  and  thus  those  who,  after 
having  painted  it,  add  somewhat  more,  make  a  picture,  not  a 
portrait. 

Eloquence—  We  need  both  what  is  pleasing  and  what  is  real, 
but  that  which  pleases  must  itself  be  drawn  from  the  true. 

Eloquence,  which  persuades  by  gentleness,  not  by  empire,  as 
a  tyrant,  not  as  a  king. 

There  is  a  certain  pattern  of  charm  and  beauty  which  con- 


302 


THOUGHTS  ON  STYLE. 


sists  in  a  certain  relation  between  our  nature,  such  as  it  is, 
whether  weak  or  strong,  and  the  thing  which  pleases  us. 

Whatever  is  formed  on  this  pattern  delights  us,  whether 
house,  song,  discourse,  verse,  prose,  woman,  birds,  rivers,  trees, 
rooms,  dresses,  etc. 

Whatever  is  not  made  on  this  pattern  displeases  those  who 
have  good  taste. 

And  as  there  is  a  perfect  relation  between  a  song  and  a  house 
which  are  made  on  a  good  pattern,  because  they  are  like  this 
unique  pattern,  though  each  after  its  kind,  there  is  also  a  perfect 
relation  between  things  made  on  a  bad  pattern.  Not  that  the 
bad  is  unique,  for  there  are  many  ;  but  every  bad  sonnet,  for 
instance,  on  whatever  false  pattern  it  is  constructed,  is  exactly 
like  a  woman  dressed  on  that  pattern. 

Nothing  makes  us  understand  better  the  absurdity  of  a  false 
sonnet  than  to  consider  nature  and  the  pattern,  and  then  to 
imagine  a  woman  or  a  house  constructed  on  that  pattern. 

When  a  natural  discourse  paints  a  passion  or  an  effect,  we 
feel  in  our  mind  the  truth  of  what  we  read,  which  was  there  be¬ 
fore,  though  we  did  not  know  it,  and  we  are  inclined  to  love  him 
who  makes  us  feel  it.  For  he  has  not  made  a  display  of  his 
own  riches,  but  of  ours,  and  thus  this  benefit  renders  him 
pleasant  to  us,  besides  that  such  a  community  of  intellect 
necessarily  inclines  the  heart  to  love. 

All  the  false  beauties  which  we  blame  in  Cicero  have  their 
admirers  and  in  great  number. 

The  last  thing  we  decide  on  in  writing  a  book  is  what  shall 
be  the  first  we  put  in  it. 

Language. — We  ought  not  to  turn  the  mind  from  one  thing  to 
another  save  for  relaxation,  at  suitable  times,  and  no  other,  for 
he  that  diverts  out  of  season  wearies,  and  he  who  wearies  us  out 
of  season  repels  us,  and  w'e  simply  turn  away.  So  much  it  pleases 
our  wayward  lust  to  do  the  exact  contrary  of  what  those  seek  to 


THOUGHTS  ON  STYLE. 


303 


obtain  from  us  who  give  us  no  pleasure,  the  coin  for  which  we 
will  do  whatever  we  are  asked. 

When  we  meet  with  a  natural  style,  we  are  charmed  and  asto¬ 
nished,  for  we  looked  for  an  author,  and  we  found  a  man.  But 
those  who  have  good  taste,  and  who  seeing  a  book  expect  to 
find  a  man,  are  altogether  surprised  to  find  an  author :  plus 
poetice  quant  humane  loculus  cs.  Those  pay  great  honour  to 
nature,  who  show  her  that  she  is  able  to  discourse  on  all  things, 
even  on  theology. 

Languages  are  ciphers,  where  letters  are  not  changed  into 
letters,  but  words  into  words,  so  that  an  unknown  language  can 
be  deciphered. 

When  in  a  discourse  we  find  words  repeated,  and  in  trying  to 
correct  them  find  we  cannot  change  them  for  others  without 
manifest  disadvantage,  we  must  let  them  stand,  for  this  is 
the  true  test ;  our  criticism  came  of  envy  which  is  blind,  and 
does  not  see  that  repetition  is  not  in  this  place  a  fault,  for  there 
is  no  general  rule. 

Miscellaneous.  Language. — Those  who  force  words  for  the 
sake  of  antitheses  are  like  those  who  make  false  windows  for 
symmetry. 

Their  rule  is  not  to  speak  accurately,  but  in  accurate  form. 

To  put  a  mask  on  nature  and  disguise  her.  No  more  King, 
pope,  bishop,  but  sacred  majesty ,  no  more  Paris,  but  the  capital 
of  the  Kingdom. 

There  are  places  in  which  we  should  call  Paris,  Paris,  and 
others  in  which  we  ought  to  call  it  the  capital  of  the  Kingdom. 

There  are  those  who  speak  well  and  write  ill.  Because  the 
place  and  the  audience  warm  them,  and  draw  from  their  minds 
more  than  would  have  been  produced  without  that  warmth. 

Miscellaneous. — A  figure  of  speech,  “  I  should  have  wished  to 
apply  myself  to  that.” 


3°  4 


THOUGHTS  ON  STYLE . 


The  aperitive  virtue  of  a  key,  the  attractive  virtue  of  a  crook. 

To  guess.  The  part  that  I  take  in  your  sorrow.  The 
Cardinal  did  not  choose  to  be  guessed. 

My  mind  is  disquieted  within  me.  I  am  disquieted  is  better. 

To  extinguish  the  torch  of  sedition ,  too  luxuriant. 

The  restlessness  of  his  genius.  Two  striking  words  too  much. 

A  coach  upset  or  overturned ,  according  to  the  meaning. 

Spread  abroad ,  or  upset ,  according  to  the  meaning. 

The  argument  by  force  of  M.  le  M.  over  the  friar. 

Symmetry. 

Is  what  we  see  at  one  glance. 

Founded  on  the  fact  that  there  is  no  reason  for  any  difference. 

And  founded  also  on  the  face  of  man. 

Whence  it  comes  that  symmetry  is  only  wanted  in  breadth, 
not  in  height  or  depth. 

Sceptic,  for  obstinate. 

Descartes  useless  and  uncertain. 

No  one  calls  another  a  courtier  but  he  who  is  not  one  him¬ 
self,  a  pedant  save  a  pedant,  a  provincial  but  a  provincial,  and  I 
would  wager  it  was  the  printer  who  put  it  on  the  title  of  Letters 
to  a  Provincial. 

The  chief  talent,  that  which  rules  all  others. 

If  the  lightning  were  to  strike  low-lying  places,  etc.,  poets,  and 
those  whose  only  reasonings  are  on  things  of  that  nature  would 
lack  proofs. 

Poetical  beauty.— As  we  talk  of  poetical  beauty,  so  ought  we  to 
talk  of  mathematical  beauty  and  medical  beauty  ;  yet  we  do  not 
use  those  terms,  because  we  know  perfectly  the  object  of  mathe- 


thoughts  ox  STYLE.  3c,5 

mattes,  that  it  consists  in  proofs,  and  the  object  of  medicine  that 

t  le  natural  model  to  be  imitated,  and  for  want  of  that  know. 

//;  A*  WemVent  a  set  of  extravagant  terms,  “ the  <r0lden  are 
t/ie  wonder  of  our  tiines  i  . .  * 

beauty.  ’ 7  ’  etC”  and  caI1  this  jargon  poetic 

saying  UtTe  Ihf™  *  'V°man  ™  ‘hat  Pattern’  whi<*  consists  in 
J,g,  *  th  ngs  111  Sreat  words,  we  shall  see  a  pretty  <drl  be 
decked  wtth  mirrors  and  chains  absurd  to  our  taste  because  we 
know  better  wherein  consists  the  charm  of  womln  Than  the 
aim  o  verse.  But  those  who  do  not  know,  would  admire  her 
n  such  trimmings,  and  in  many  villages  she  would  be  taken  for 

"s  made  on  a — - 

aslhose  wh^^86  °f  2  W°rk  With°Ut  rule  are  in  regard  to  others 
says  “it  was  P°S.SeSS  a  Watch  are  m  regard  to  others.  One 

of  an  “  f  7S  ag°”  an°ther>  “ il  is  only  three-quarters 
1  h°ur-  1  look  at  my  watch  and  say  to  the  one  “  vo„  m  e 
ueary  o  ns,”  and  to  the  other,  “time  flies  fast  with ’you  for  it 
only  an  hour  and  a  half.”  And  I  laugh  at  .hose  who  sa’v  that 
t  me  goes  slowly  with  me,  and  that  I  judge  by  fancy  Th'  i 
not  know  that  I  judge  by  my  watch.  *  7  ’ '  ’ hejr  d° 


y 


* 


VARIOUS  THOUGHTS. 


Mathematics,  Tact.— True  eloquence  makes  light  of  eloquence, 
true  morality  makes  light  of  morality,  that  is  to  say,  the 
morality  of  the  judgment  makes  light  of  the  morality  of  the 
intellect,  which  has  no  rules. 

For  perception  belongs  to  judgment,  as  science  belongs  to  the 
intellect.  Tact  is  the  part  of  judgment,  mathematics  of  the 
intellect. 

1  o  make  light  of  philosophy  is  to  be  a  true  philosopher. 

The  nourishment  of  the  body  is  little  by  little,  too  much 
nourishment  gives  little  substance. 

There  is  an  universal  and  essential  difference  between  the 
actions  of  the  will  and  all  others. 

The  will  is  one  of  the  principal  organs  of  belief,  not  that  it 
forms  belief,  but  because  things  are  true  or  false  according  to 
the  side  from  which  we  regard  them.  Thejwill,  pleased  with 
one  rather  than  the  other,  turns  the  mind  from  the  considera¬ 
tion  of  that  which  has  the  qualities  it  cares  not  to  see,  and  thus 
the  intellect,  moving  with  tfie  will,  stays  to  regard  the  side  it 
loves,  and  thus  judges  by  what  it  sees. 

.  The  heart  has  its  reasons,  which  reason  knows  not,  as  we  feel 
in  a  thousand  instances.  I  say  that  the  heart  loves  the  uni¬ 
versal  Being  naturally,  and  itself  naturally,  according  as  it  gives 
itself  to  each,  and  it  hardens  itself  against  one  or  the  other  at  its 

own  will.  You  have  rejected  one  and  kept  the  other,  does 
reason  cause  your  love? 

It  is  the  heart  which  is  conscious  of  God,  not  the  reason. 
This  then  is  faith  ;  God  sensible  to  the  heart,  not  to  the  reason. 

Reason  acts  slowly  and  with 


so  many  views,  on  so  manv 


VARIOUS  THOUGHTS. 


30S 

principles,  which  it  ought  always  to  keep  before  it,  that  it  con¬ 
stantly  slumbers  and  goes  astray,  from  not  having  its  principles 
at  hand.  The  heart  does  not  act  thus,  it  acts  in  a  moment,  and 
is  always  ready  to  act.  We  must  then  place  our  faith  in  the 
heart,  or  it  will  be  always  vacillating. 

Men  often  mistake  their  imagination  for  their  heart,  and  they 
believe  they  are  converted  as  soon  as  they  think  of  being  converted. 

Those  who  are  accustomed  to  judge  by  the  heart  do  not  under¬ 
stand  the  process  of  reasoning,  for  they  wish  to  understand  at  a 
glance,  and  are  not  accustomed  to  seek  for  principles.  And  others 
on  the  contrary,  who  are  accustomed  to  reason  by  principles, 
do  not  a  all  understand  the  things  of  the  heart,  seeking  prin¬ 
ciples  and  not  being  able  to  see  at  a  glance. 

If  we  wished  to  prove  those  examples  by  which  we  prove 
other  things,  we  should  have  to  take  those  other  things  to  be 
examples.  For  as  we  always  believe  the  difficulty  is  in  the 
matter  we  wish  to  prove,  we  find  the  examples  clearer  and  aids 
to  demonstration. 

Thus  when  we  wish  to  demonstrate  a  general  proposition,  we 
must  give  the  rule  special  to  a  case,  but  if  we  wish  to  demonstrate 
a  particular  case,  we  must  begin  with  the  particular  rule.  For 
we  always  find  the  thing  obscure  which  we  wish  to  prove,  and 
that  clear  which  we  employ  as  proof ;  for  when  a  matter  is  pro¬ 
posed  for  proof  we  first  fill  ourselves  with  the  imagination  that 
it  is  therefore  obscure,  and  on  the  contrary  that  what  is  to  prove 
it  is  clear,  and  so  we  understand  with  ease. 

Far  from  believing  a  thing  because  you  have  heard  it, 
you  ought  to  believe  nothing  without  having  put  yourself  in  the 
same  position  as  if  you  had  never  heard  it. 

What  should  make  you  believe  is  your  own  assent  to  yourself, 
and  the  constant  voice  of  your  reason,  not  that  of  others. 

Belief  is  so  important ! 

A  hundred  contradictions  might  be  true. 


VARIOUS  THOUGHTS.  309 

If  antiquity  were  the  rule  of  faith  then  the  men  of  old  time  had 
no  rule.  If  general  consent,  if  men  had  perished  .  .  . 

False  humility  is  pride. 

Lift  the  curtain. 

You  may  try  as  you  please.  You  must  either  believe,  or  deny 
or  doubt.  ’ 

Have  we  then  no  rule? 

We  judge  that  animals  do  well  what  they  do.  Is  there  no 
rule  whereby  to  judge  men? 

To  deny,  to  believe,  and  to  doubt  well  are  to  a  man  what 
paces  are  to  a  horse. 


Memory  is  necessary  for  every  operation  of  the  reason. 

Memory  and  joy  are  feelings,  and  even  mathematical  pro¬ 
positions  become  so,  for  reason  makes  what  is  felt  natural,  and 
natural  feelings  are  effaced  by  reason. 

All  our  reasoning  is  reduced  to  yielding  to  feeling. 

But  fancy  is  like  yet  contrary  to  feeling,  so  that  we  cannot 
distinguish  between  these  contraries.  One  man  says  that  my 
feeling  is  fancy,  another  that  his  fancy  is  feeling.  We  must 
have  a  rule.  Reason  offers  herself,  but  she  is  pliable  in  all 
directions,  and  so  there  is  no  rule. 


Reason  commands  us  much  more  imperiously  than  a  master, 
for  in  disobeying  the  one  we  are  unhappy,  and  in  disobeying 
the  other  we  are  fools. 


When  we  are  accustomed  to  use  bad  reasons  for  proving 
natural  effects,  we  do  not  wish  to  receive  good  reasons  even 
when  they  are  discovered.  An  example  may  be  taken  from  the 
circulation  of  the  blood,  to  give  a  reason  why  the  vein  swells 
below  the  ligature. 

We  are  usually  better  persuaded  by  reasons  which  we  have 
ourselves  discovered,  than  by  those  which  have  come  into  the 
mind  of  others. 


M.  de  Roannez  said  :  “  Reasons  come  afterwards,  but  at  first  a 


VARIOUS  THOUGHTS . 


310 

thing  pleases  or  shocks  me,  without  my  knowing  the  reason,  and 
yet  it  displeased  me  for  the  reason  which  I  only  discover  later.” 
But  I  believe,  not  that  he  was  displeased  for  those  reasons  which 
he  afterwards  discovered,  but  that  those  reasons  were  only 
discovered  because  the  thing  was  displeasing. 

The  difference  between  the  mathematical  mind  and  the  prac¬ 
tical  mind. — In  the  one  the  premisses  are  palpable,  but  removed 
from  ordinary  use,  so  that  from  want  of  habit  it  is  difficult  to 
look  in  that  direction,  but  if  we  take  the  trouble  to  look,  the 
premisses  are  fully  visible,  and  we  must  have  a  totally  incorrect 
mind  if  we  draw  wrong  inferences  from  premisses  so  plain 
that  it  is  scarce  possible  they  should  escape  our  notice. 

But  in  the  practical  mind  the  premisses  are  taken  from  use 
and  wont,  and  are  before  the  eyes  of  every  body.  We  have 
only  to  look  that  way,  there  is  no  difficulty  in  seeing  them  ;  it 
is  only  a  question  of  good  eyesight,  but  it  must  be  good,  for  the 
premisses  are  so  numerous  and  so  subtle,  that  it  is  scarce 
possible  but  that  some  escape  us.  Now  the  omission  of  one 
premiss  leads  to  error,  thus  we  must  have  very  clear  sight  to 
see  all  the  premisses,  and  then  an  accurate  mind  not  to  draw 
false  conclusions  from  known  premisses. 

All  mathematicians  v/ould  then  be  practical  if  they  were 
clear-sighted,  for  they  do  not  reason  incorrectly  on  premisses 
known  to  them.  And  practical  men  would  be  mathematicians 
if  they  could  turn  their  eyes  to  the  premisses  of  mathematics 
to  which  they  are  unaccustomed. 

The  reason  therefore  that  some  practical  men  are  not  mathe¬ 
matical  is  that  they  cannot  at  all  turn  their  attention  to 
mathematical  premisses.  But  the  reason  that  mathematicians 
are  not  practical  is  that  they  do  not  see  what  is  before  them,  and 
that,  accustomed  to  the  precise  and  distinct  statements  of  mathe¬ 
matics  and  not  reasoning  till  they  have  well  examined  and 
arranged  their  premisses,  they  are  lost  in  practical  life  wherein 
the  premisses  do  not  admit  of  such  arrangement,  being  scarcely 
seen,  indeed  they  are  felt  rather  than  seen,  and  there  is  great 
difficulty  in  causing  them  to  be  felt  by  those  who  do  not  of  them¬ 
selves  perceive  them.  They  are  so  nice  and  so  numerous, 


VARIOUS  THOUGHTS. 


3ii 

that  a  verv  delicate  and  very  clear  sense  is  needed  to  apprehend 
them,  and  to  judge  rightly  and  justly  when  they  are  apprehended, 
without  as  a  rule  being  able  to  demonstrate  them  in  an  orderly 
way  as  in  mathematics  ;  because  the  premisses  are  not  before 
us  in  the  same  way,  and  because  it  would  be  an  infinite  matter 
to  undertake.  We  must  see  them  at  once,  at  one  glance,  and 
not  by  process  of  reasoning,  at  least  up  to  a  certain  degree.  And 
thus  it  is  rare  that  mathematicians  are  practical,  or  that  practical 
men  are  mathematicians,  because  mathematicians  wish  to 
treat  practical  life  mathematically;  and  they  make  themselves 
ridiculous,  wishing  to  begin  by  definitions  and  premisses,  a  pro¬ 
ceeding  which  this  way  of  reasoning  will  not  bear.  The  mind  does 
indeed  the  same  thing,  but  tacitly,  naturally  and  without  art,  in 
a  way  which  none  can  express,  and  only  a  few  can  feel. 

Practical  minds  on  the  contrary,  being  thus  accustomed  to 
judge  at  a  glance,  are  amazed  when  propositions  are  presented 
to  them  of  which  they  understand  nothing  and  the  way  to  which 
is  through  sterile  definitions  and  premisses,  which  they  are  not 
accustomed  to  see  thus  in  detail,  and  therefore  are  repelled  and 
disheartened. 

But  inaccurate  minds  are  never  either  practical  or  mathemati¬ 
cal.  Mathematicians  who  are  only  mathematicians  have  exact 
minds,  provided  all  things  are  clearly  set  before  them  in  defini¬ 
tions  and  premisses,  otherwise  they  are  inaccurate  and  intole¬ 
rable,  for  they  are  only  accurate  when  the  premisses  are  perfectly 
clear. 

And  practical  men,  who  are  only  practical,  cannot  have  the 
patience  to  condescend  to  first  principles  of  things  speculative 
and  abstract,  which  they  have  never  seen  in  the  world,  and  to 
which  they  are  wholly  unaccustomed. 

There  are  various  kinds  of  good  sense,  there  are  some  who 
judge  correctly  in  a  certain  order  of  things,  and  are  lost  in  others. 

Some  are  able  to  draw  conclusions  well  from  a  few  premisses, 
and  this  shows  a  penetrative  intellect. 

Others  draw  conclusions  well  where  there  are  many  pre¬ 
misses. 

For  instance,  the  first  easily  understand  the  law^s  of  hydro- 


312 


VA  RIO  US  7  I/O  UGI1TS. 


statics,  where  the  premisses  are  few,  but  the  conclusions  so  nice, 
that  only  the  greatest  penetration  can  reach  them.  And  these 
persons  would  perhaps  not  necessarily  be  great  mathematicians, 
because  mathematics  embrace  a  great  number  of  premisses,  and 
perhaps  a  mind  may  be  so  formed  that  it  searches  with  ease  a 
few  premisses  to  the  bottom,  yet  cannot  at  all  comprehend  those 
matters  in  which  there  are  many  premisses. 

There  are  then  two  kinds  of  mind,  the  one  able  to  penetrate 
vigorously  and  deeply  into  the  conclusions  of  certain  pre¬ 
misses,  and  these  are  minds  true  and  just.  The  other  able  to 
comprehend  a  great  number  of  premisses  without  confusion, 
and  these  are  the  minds  for  mathematics.  The  one  kind  has 
force  and  exactness,  the  other  capacity.  Now  the  one  quality 
can  exist  without  the  other,  a  mind  may  be  vigorous  and  narrow, 
or  it  may  have  great  range  and  no  strength. 

When  we  do  not  know  the  truth  of  a  thing,  it  is  not  amiss  that 
there  should  be  a  common  error  to  fix  the  mind  of  men,  as  for 
instance  the  moon,  to  which  is  attributed  the  change  of  seasons, 
the  progress  of  diseases,  etc.  For  the  principal  malady 
of  man  is  that  restless  curiosity  about  matters  which  he  can  not 
understand,  and  it  is  not  so  bad  for  him  to  be  mistaken,  as  to  be 
so  idly  curious. 

The  way  in  which  Epictetus,  Montaigne,  and  Salomon  de 
Tultie  wrote,  is  the  most  usual,  the  most  insinuating,  the  most 
easily  remembered,  and  the  most  often  quoted  ;  because  it  is 
wholly  composed  of  thoughts  which  arise  out  of  the  ordinary 
conversations  of  life.  As  when  a  man  speaks  of  the  vulgar 
error  that  the  moon  is  the  cause  of  all,  we  never  fail  to  say 
that  Salomon  de  Tultie  says,  that  when  we  know  not  the  truth 
of  a  matter,  it  is  well  there  should  be  a  common  error,  etc.  ; 
which  is  the  thought  above. 

To  write  against  those  who  plunged  too  deep  into  science. 
Descartes. 

Descartes. 

We  must  say  in  general  :  “  This  is  made  by  figure  and  motion 
for  it  is  true.”  But  to  say  what  these  are,  and  to  compose  the 


VARIOUS  THOUGHTS. 


3i3 


machine,  is  ridiculous.  For  it  is  useless,  uncertain,  and  painful. 
And  if  it  were  true  we  do  not  think  that  all  philosophy  is  worth 
one  hour  of  pain. 

I  cannot  forgive  Descartes. 

If  an  animal  did  by  mind  what  it  does  by  instinct,  and  if  it 
spoke  by  mind  what  it  speaks  by  instinct,  in  hunting,  and  warn¬ 
ing  its  companions  that  the  quarry  is  found  or  lost,  it  would 
certainly  also  speak  in  regard  to  those  things  which  affect  it 
more  strongly,  as  for  instance,  “  Gnaw  me  this  cord  which 
hurts  me,  and  which  I  cannot  reach.” 

The  story  of  the  pike  and  frog  of  Liancourt.  They  do  it 
always  and  never  otherwise,  nor  any  other  thing  of  mind. 

The  calculating  machine  works  results  which  approach  nearer 
to  thought  than  any  thing  done  by  animals,  but  it  does  nothing 
which  enables  us  to  say  it  has  any  will,  as  animalsTravev 

When  it  is  said  that  heat  is  only  the  motion  of  certain 
molecules,  and  light  the  conatus  recedendi  which  we  feel,  we  are 
surprised.  And  shall  we  think  that  pleasure  is  but  the  buoyancy 
of  our  spirits?  We  have  conceived  so  different  an  idea  of  it,  and 
these  sensations  seem  so  removed  from  those  others  which  we 
say  are  the  same  as  those  with  which  we  compare  them.  The 
feeling  of  fire,  the  warmth  which  affects  us  in  a  manner  wholly 
different  from  touch,  the  reception  of  sound  and  light,  all  this 
seems  to  us  mysterious,  and  yet  it  is  as  material  as  the  blow  of 
a  stone.  It  is  true  that  the  minuteness  of  the  spirits  which  enter 
into  the  pores  touch  different  nerves,  yet  nerves  are  always 
touched. 

What  is  more  absurd  than  to  say  that  inanimate  bodies  have 
passion,  fear,  horror,  that  insensible  bodies,  without  life,  and 
even  incapable  of  life,  have  passions,  which  presuppose  at  least 
a  sensitive  soul  to  feel  them,  nay  more,  that  the  object  of  their 
terror  is  a  vacuum  ?  What  is  there  in  a  vacuum  which  should 


3r4 


VARIOUS  THOUGHTS. 


make  them  afraid  ?  What  can  be  more  base  and  more  ridiculous  ? 
Nor  is  this  all ;  it  is  said  they  have  in  themselves  a  principle  of 
motion  to  avoid  a  vacuum.  Have  they  arms,  legs,  muscles, 
nerves  ? 

How  foolish  is  painting,  which  draws  admiration  by  the  re¬ 
semblance  of  things  of  which  we  do  not  admire  the  originals. 

In  the  same  way  that  we  injure  the  understanding  we  injure 
the  feelings  also. 

The  feelings  and  the  understanding  are  formed  by  society, 
and  are  perverted  by  society.  Thus  good  or  bad  society  forms 
or  perverts  them.  It  is  then  of  the  first  importance  to  know 
how  to  choose  in  order  to  form  and  not  to  pervert  them,  and  we 
cannot  make  this  choice  if  they  be  not  already  formed  and  not 
perverted.  Thus  a  circle  is  formed,  and  happy  are  those  who 
escape  it. 

Have  you  never  seen  persons,  who,  in  order  to  complain  of  the 
little  you  make  of  them,  bring  before  you  the  example  of  people  in 
high  position  who  esteem  them  ?  To  such  I  answer,  “  Show  me 
the  merit  by  which  you  have  charmed  these  persons,  and  I  will 
esteem  you  too.” 

The  world  is  full  of  good  maxims.  All  that  is  needed  is  their 
right  application.  For  instance,  no  one  doubts  that  we  ought  to 
risk  our  lives  for  the  common  weal,  and  many  do  so.  But  for 
Religion,  none. 

Nature  diversifies  and  imitates,  art  imitates  and  diversifies. 

The  more  intellectwe  have  ourselves,  the  more  originality  do  we 
discover  in  others.  Ordinary  people  find  no  difference  between 
men. 

Since  we  cannot  be  universal,  and  know  all  that  is  to  be 
known  of  everything,  we  should  know  a  little  of  everything. 
For  it  is  far  better  to  know  something  of  all  than  to  know  the 
whole  of  one  thing,  this  universality  is  the  best.  If  we  can  have 


VA  RIO  US  THO  UGIITS. 


315 


both,  still  better,  but  if  we  must  choose,  let  us  choose  the  first. 
The  world  feels  and  acts  on  this,  and  the  world  is  often  a  good 
judge. 

Certain  authors  speaking  of  their  works,  say  :  “  My  book,  my 
commentary,  my  history,  etc.”  They  are  like  the  middle-class 
people  who  have  a  small  house  of  their  own,  and  have  “my 
house  ”  always  on  the  tongue.  They  would  do  better  to  say : 
“Our  book,  our  commentary,  our  history,  etc.” ;  because  there 
is  in  them  generally  more  of  other  peopled  than  their  own. 

A  true  friend  is  so  great  an  advantage,  even  for  the  greatest 
lords,  in  order  that  he  may  speak  well  of  them,  and  uphold  them 
n  their  absence,  that  they  ought  to  do  all  that  is  possible  to  have 
one.  But  they  should  choose  well,  for  spite  of  all  they  may  do 
for  fools,  whatever  good  these  say  of  them  would  be  useless, 
and  they  would  not  even  speak  well  of  them  if  they  found  them¬ 
selves  in  the  minority,  for  they  are  without  authority.  And  thus 
they  would  abuse  them  in  company. 

“  You  are  ungraceful,  excuse  me,  I  beg.”  Without  that  excuse  I 
had  not  known  there  was  aught  amiss.  “  With  reverence  be  it 
spoken  ...”  The  only  evil  is  the  excuse. 

I  always  dislike  such  compliments  as  these:  I  have  given  you 
a  great  deal  of  trouble.  I  fear  /  am  tiring  you.  I  fear  this  is 
too  long.  For  we  either  have  our  audience  with  us,  or  we  pro¬ 
voke  them. 

Rivers  are  roads  which  move  and  carry  us  whither  we  wish 
to  go. 

In  every  action  we  must  look  beyond  the  action  at  our  pasO 
present  and  future  state,  and  at  others  whom  it  affects,  and  see 
the  relations  of  all  these  things.  And  then  we  shall  be 
careful. 

4 

In  every  dialogue  and  discourse  we  ought  to  be  able  to  say  to 
those  who  are  offended,  “  Of  what  do  you  complain  ?” 


316 


VARIOUS  THOUGHTS. 


There  are  many  people  who  listen  to  the  sermon  as  they  listen 
to  vespers. 

When  a  strong  man  armed  keepeth  his  palace,  his  goods  are 
in  peace. 


NOTES. 


.9 


. 


. 


NOTES. 


P.  2.  Pascal's  Profession  of  Faith.  A  few  days  after  Pascal’s  death, 
a  servant  discovered  this  profession  sewed  into  a  fold  of  his  master’s 
waistcoat,  ponrpoint.  It  was  written  on  parchment,  with  a  copy  on 
paper.  His  family  believed  that  he  had  carefully  placed  this  in  each 
new  garment,  desiring  to  have  always  about  him  the  memorial  of  the 
great  spiritual  crisis. 

P.  2,  1.  22.  Dereliquerunt  me.  Jer.  ii.  13. 

P.  3.  General  Introduction.  In  this  are  apparently  two  drafts  of  the 
same  preface,  the  second  beginning  with  the  paragraph  “Before  entering,” 
p.  9,  1.  6.  M.  Faugere  was  the  first  to  recognize  the  true  character  of 
this  sketch,  which  has  borne  various  titles.  The  Port  Royal  edition 
called  it :  “  Against  the  Indifference  of  Atheists  ;  ”  Condorcet  headed  it : 
“  On  the  Need  of  Concern  for  the  Proofs  of  a  Future  Life  ;  ”  Bossut  : 
“  On  the  Need  of  a  Study  of  Religion.”  See  note  on  p.  60. 

P.  3,  1.  8.  Dens  absconditus.  Is.  xlv.  15.  Vcre  tu  es  Deus  abscon- 
ditus,  Deus  Israel  salvator. 

P.  12,  1.  23.  Miton  was  a  man  of  fashion  at  Paris,  a  friend  of 
Pascal’s  friend,  the  Chevalier  de  Mere. 

P.  II.  Notes  for  the  General  Introduction.  The  fragments  following 
are  thus  arranged  by  Molinier  as  having  been  in  his  judgment  intended 
for  and  many  of  them  expanded  in  the  preceding  Preface. 

P.  17.  Preface  to  the  First  Part.  This  is  Pascal’s  own  title  to  the 
section. 

P.  17,  1.  2.  Chari-on,  Pierre,  was  born  at  Paris  in  1541.  He  was 
a  friend  of  Montaigne,  whose  philosophy  he  adopted.  His  Traite  de  la 
Sagesse,  Bordeaux,  1601,  is  the  work  of  whose  elaborate  divisions  Pascal 
complains. 

P.  17,  1.  12.  Montaigne's  defects.  Mademoiselle  de  Gournay, 
Montaigne’s  adopted  daughter,  defends  the  Essayist  in  regard  to  this 
matter,  in  the  preface  to  her  edition  of  the  Essays,  Paris,  1595. 

P.  17,  1.  14.  people  without  eyes.  Montaigne,  Essais,  1.  ii.  ch.  xii. 

P.  17,  1.  15.  squaring  the  circle.  Ib.,  1.  ii.  ch.  xiv. 


320 


NOTES. 


F.  17,  1.  15.  a  greater  world.  Montaigne,  Essals,  1.  ii.  ch.  xii. 

P.  17,  1.  16.  on  suicide  and  on  death.  Ib.,  1.  i.  ch.  iii. 

P.  17,  1.  17.  without  fear  and  without  repentance.  Ib.,  1.  iii.  ch.  ii. 

P.  19.  Man's  Disproportion.  Pascal’s  own  title. 

1**  *9>  34-  the  centre  of  which  is  every  where,  the  circumference  no 

where.  Voltaire  attributed  this  famous  saying  to  the  pseudo-Timoeus  of 
Lccris,  an  abridgement  of  Plato’s  Timceus,  but  in  neither  work  is  the 
whole  sentence  to  be  found.  The  saying,  however,  is  not  originally 
Pascal’s.  It  is  probably  borrowed  from  Mile,  de  Gournay’s  preface 
to  her  edition  of  Montaigne,  Paris,  1635,  and  was  taken  by  her  from 
Rabelais,  bk.  iii.  ch.  13,  where  it  is  attributed  to  Hermes  Tris- 
megistus.  M.  Havet,  who  gives  these,  and  many  more  details,  finally 
traces  it,  on  the  authority  of  Vincent  de  Beauvais,  1200-1264,  to  Empe¬ 
docles. 

P.  21,  1.  36.  I  will  discourse  of  the  all.  This  saying  of  Democritus 
is  taken  by  Pascal  from  Montaigne,  Essais,  1.  ii.  ch.  xii. 

P.  22,  1.  4.  De  omni  scibili.  The  title  given  to  nine  hundred  pro¬ 
positions,  put  forth  at  Rome  by  Pico  della  Mirandola,  then  aged  twenty- 
three,  in  i486. 

P.  22,  1.  8.  The  Principles  of  Philosophy.  Descartes  wrote  a  work 
with  this  title,  Prmcipia  Philosophies. 

P.  22,  1.  38.  Benef  cia  co  usque  lecta  sunt.  Tacitus,  Ann.  lib.  iv. 
c.  xviii.  Taken  by  Pascal  from  Montaigne,  Essais ,  1.  iii.  ch.  viii. 

P.  24,  1.  27.  And  what  completes  our  inability.  Compare  for  the 
whole  of  the  passage  on  matter  and  spirit,  Descartes,  Discours  de  la 
Methode. 

E.  25,  1.  34.  Modus  quo  corporibus  adheeret  spirit  us.  S.  Aug.  De 
Civitate  Dei,  xxi.  10.  Taken  by  Pascal  from  Montaigne,  Essais,  1.  ii. 
ch.  xii. 

P.  26,  1.  31.  Lustravit  lampade  terras.  The  full  couplet  is 
Tales  sunt  hominum  mentes,  quali  pater  ipse 
Jupiter  auctiferas  lustravit  lampade  terras. 

S.  Aug.  De  Civitate  Dei,  v.  8,  a  translation  by  Cicero  of  two  lines  in  the 
Odyssey,  x\  iii.  136.  The  quotation  is  borrowed  from  Montaigne, 
Essais,  1.  ii.  ch.  xii. 

P.  27,  1.  20.  a  fly  is  buzzing.  Borrowed  from  Montaigne,  Essais, 
1.  iii.  ch.  xiii. 

P.  27,  1.  26.  flies  which  win  battles.  Montaigne  relates  that  the 
I  ortuguese  besieging  the  town  of  Tandy  wove  obliged  to  raise  the 
siege  on  account  of  the  clouds  of  flies.  Essais,  1.  ii.  ch.  xii. 

P.  28,  1.  12.  Memoria  hospitis  unius  diei  preetereuntis.  Lib.  Sap. 
v.  14. 


NOTES. 


321 


P.  30, 1.  4.  Plerumque  grata,  altered  from  Hor.  Carm.  Hi.  20  v  n 
pierumque  grates  divitibus  vices. 

p.  30,  I.  13.  Epaminondas.  The  example  is  taken  from  Mon¬ 
taigne,  Essais,  1.  ii.  ch.  xxxvi. 

P.  31,  I-  22.  Sneezing  absorbs  all  the  faculties.  A  paraphrase  of  a 
passage  in  Montaigne,  Essais,  1.  iii.  ch.  v. 

P.  31,  1.  28.  Scaramouch.  One  of  the  traditional  parts  in  Italian 
Comedy,  at  that  time  played  by  the  well-known  actor  Tiberio  Fiorelli 
whom  I  ascal  had  probably  seen. 

at1/-'31’  29\  Tke  d°Ct0r'  aIs°  a  common  character  in  Italian  farces. 

Moliere  has  borrowed  from  the  Italian  stage  his  doctor,  so  often  a 

pedant  and  a  fool,  of  whom  le  docteur  Pancrace,  in  Le  Mariam  Force 
is  perhaps  the  most  notable  example,  though  that  comedy  was  produced 
after  the  death  of  Pascal. 

P.  32,  1.  11.  the  Condrieu,  the  Desargues.  Gerard  Desargues  was 
a  mathematician  at  Condrieu  on  the  Rhone,  who  had  been  Pascal’s 
teacher.  Among  the  Muscat  grapes  grown  at  Condrieu,  Pascal  dis- 
mguishes  a  special  variety  of  Desargues,  and  among  these  a  particular 

P.  32,  1.  28.  the  Passion  of  Cleobuline.  In  Artamhie,  on  le  Grand 
Cyrus,  the  celebrated  romance  of  Mademoiselle  de  Scudery,  Cleobuline 
princess,  afterwards  queen  of  Corinth,  is  one  of  the  principal  characters! 
bhe  is  represented  as  in  love  with  Myrinthe,  one  of  her  subjects,  but 
she  loved  him  without  thinking  of  love  ;  and  remained  so  long  in  her 

error,  that  when  she  became  aware  of  it,  her  affection  was  no  longer  in 
a  condition  to  be  overcome.  ” 

P.  33.  Diversion.  Under  this  heading  Pascal  comprises  not  only 
trivial  occupations,  and  the  distractions  of  idle  society,  but  all  which 
save  truth  alone,  can  form  the  study  or  the  research  of  man  The  main 
idea  of  the  chapter  is  borrowed  from  Montaigne,  Essais,  1.  iii.  chap.  x. 

P-  35>  P  17.  The  counsel  given  to  Pyrrhus.  Ib.,  1.  i.  ch.  xliii. 

P.  36,  1.  n.  as  children  are  frightened  at  a  face.  Borrowed  from 

A  ontaigne,  Essais,  1.  11.  ch.  xii.,  and  Montaigne  in  his  turn  borrowed  it 
from  Seneca,  Ep.  24. 

P.  36,  1.  28.  superintendent.  Of  finances.  The  last  who  held  this 
office  was  Fouquet,  still  in  office  when  this  was  written.  He  was  dis¬ 
missed  in  disgrace  in  1661. 

P.  36,  29.  first  president.  Of  the  Parliament  of  Paris. 

P-  36,  1.  32.  dismissed  to  their  country  houses.  At  that  date  and 
for  a  long  time  afterwards,  a  Minister  of  State  rarely  fell  from  Office 
without  receiving  a  Lettre  de  cachet  which  banished  him  to  the  seclu¬ 
sion  of  his  country  estate. 


Y 


322 


NOTES. 


p.  39,  1.  17.  In  omnibus  requiem  quccsivi.  Ecclus.  xxiv.  7. 

P.  40,  1.  9.  will  arise  weariness.  Compare  Montaigne,  Essais,  1.  iii. 

P.  41,  1.  7.  Cccsar  was  too  old.  See  Montaigne,  Essais,  1.  ii.  ch. 
xxxiv. 

P.  43.  The  Greatness  and  Littleness  of  Man.  The  title  suggested 
by  Pascal,  in  many  passages  of  the  autograph  MS. 

P.  43,  1.  11.  For  Tort  Royal.  The  letters  A.  P.  R.  occur  in  several 
places  in  Pascal’s  MS.  It  is  generally  thought  that  they  mean  a  Port- 
Royal,  and  are  intended  to  indicate  subjects  to  be  developed  later  in 
conferences  or  lectures  at  that  house. 

P.45,1.  1.  Man  is  neither  angel  nor  brute.  This  is  closely  borrowed 
from  Montaigne,  Essais,  1.  iii.  ch.  xiii. 

P.  46,  1.  15.  Corrwnpunt  mores  bonos  colloquia  prava.  I  ad  Cor. 
xv.  33,  but  the  Vulgate  reading  has  mala. 

P.  47,  1.  18.  Paul  us  Emilius.  The  example  is  taken  from  Mon¬ 
taigne,  Essais,  1.  i.  ch.  xix.  See  also  Cic.  Tuscul.  v.  40* 

P.  47,  1.  31.  Ego  virvidens.  Lament,  iii.  I.  Ego  vir  videns  pauper- 
tatem  meam  in  virga  indignationis  cjus. 

P.  51.  Of  the  deceptive  powers,  etc.  This  is  Pascal’s  own  title  for 

this  section. 

P.  51,  1.  14.  Imagination.  Pascal  uses  this  word  in  an  extended 
sense  already  given  to  it  by  Montaigne,  and  means  that  faculty  bj 
which  we  attribute  a  value  to  those  things  which  in  fact  have  none. 

P.  53,  1.  11.  furred  cats.  Rabelais,  bk.  v.  ch.  II. 

P.  54,  1.  2.  Della  Opinione.  No  work  is  known  under  this  name. 
Pascal  possibly  means  a  work  of  Carlo  Flosi,  L  Opinione  in  anna, 
moral mente  considerata  ne  gli  apfari  del  mondo,  Mondovi,  1690.  Lut  it 
is  not  certain  that  this  edition  is  the  reprint  of  a  work  extant  before 
Pascal  wrote. 

P.  54,  1.  27.  Diseases  are  another  source  of  error.  Taken  from 
Montaigne,  Essais,  1.  ii.  ch.  xii. 

P.  56,  1.  20.  in  Switzerland  that  of  the  burgesses.  This  may  be  com¬ 
pared  with  p.  66,  1.  6.  In  the  majority  of  Swiss  towns  every  candidate  for 
municipal  office  must  needs  possess  the  freedom  of  the  town,  but  the 
intention  was  not  to  set  aside  those  of  noble  birth,  as  Pascal  supposes, 
but  foreigners,  and  those  of  other  towns,  each  of  which  was  considered 
as  a  separate  state. 

P.  57,1.27.  would  care  nothing  for  Provence.  Compare  Montaigne, 
Essais,  1.  i.  ch.  xxii.  “  C'est  par  V entremise  de  la  coustume  que  chacun 
est  contant  du  lieu  oil  nature  V a  plante:  et  les  sauvages  d’Escosse  n  out 
que  faire  dc  la  Touraine,  ny  les  Scythes  de  la  Thessalie. 

P.  57,  1.  28.  Ferox  gens.  Livy,  1.  xxxiv.  c.  17. 


notes. 


323 


chP;f  L  20‘  Bmve  deeds-  Borrowed  from  Montaigne,  Essais,  1.  i. 

,  P'  6l'  °f  Justice,  etc.  These  fragments,  now  among  the  best 
known  of : Pascal’s  Thoughts,  but  for  the  most  part  brought  to  notice  in 

from  Holder.  ^  ^  ^  preSent  arrangement  and  title 

MP\  6l ’  1  3°'  NlhlJ  amPIius-  These  sentences,  borrowed  from 
taigne,  are  quoted,  the  first  of  them  wrongly,  from  Cicero  De 

V'21’  the  Second  from  Seneca,  Ad  Lucilium ,  Ep.  95  •  the 

Mont^111  TrUS’  fnUa/eS’  25‘  Compare  with  the  whole  passage 
Montaigne,  Essais,  1.  ii.  ch.  xii.  and  1.  hi.  ch.  xiii.  S 

P.  62,  1.  29.  Quum  veritatem .  S.  Aug.,  De  Civit.  Dei,  iv.  21 
From  Montaigne,  Essais,  1.  ii.  ch.  xii.  3  * 

pLP‘o62’  1  27 ‘  ihe  wisest  <f  ^givers.  Socrates,  in  the  Republic  ot 

J‘DJ;I\9‘  Arche siias.  Born  at  Pitane  in  Aiolis  of  a  Scythian 
thereabout  300  b.c.  He  was  founder  of  the  School  known  as  the 
Second  Academy.  See  Montaigne,  Essais,  1.  ii.  ch.  xii. 

eIPx  ch.'  jr a11  that  is  here  saM  °n  cust°m’ see 

tlP*65’1;7'  Pasc*  ™es  meas.  Joh.  xxi.  17.  The  words  are  those 
taken  as  the  foundation  of  papal  authority.  You  owe  me  pasturage  i  e 
you  owe  me  justice.  **  ’ 

,  f;.  6?\h  3°-  the  soldiers  °f  Mahomet,  thieves,  heretics.  Pascal 
boldly  joins  heretics  and  thieves,  for  those  who  did  not  hold  his 
creed  appeared  to  him  as  men  sans  foi  ni  loi,  faithless  and  lawless, 
n  ns  eyes  a  Turk  was  scarce  a  man.  See  the  Provincial  Letters, 
let.  xiv.  Sont-ce  des  religieux  et  des  pritres  qui  parlent  de  ceite  sorte  1 
Sont.ce  des  Chretiens  l  Sont-ce  des  Turcs  f  Sont-ce  des  de'mons?” 

And  Thoughts,  p.  21 1,  1.  30.  “Do  we  not  see  beasts  live  and  die  like 
men,  and  Turks  like  Christians.” 

P.  66,  1.  6.  The  Swiss.  See  note  on  p.  56,  1.  20. 

P.  66,  1.  10.  condemning  so  many  Spaniards  to  death.  Possiblv 
an  allusion  to  the  battle  of  the  Dunes,  1659,  which  led  to  the  Peace 
of  the  Pyrenees,  so  long  desired  by  all  but  Spain,  then  obliged  to  consent. 

1 .  07,  J.  13  Summum  jus,  summa  injuria.  Charron,  Trade  de  la 
Sagesse,  etc.  ch.  xxvii.  art.  8. 

P.  67, 1.  26.  The  end  of  the  Twelfth  Provincial.  The  following  is  the 
passage  to  which  Pascal  alludes.  “  Cest  une  etrange  et  longue  guerre 
que  cede  on  la  violence  essaye  dPppnmer  la  virite.  Lous  les  efforts  de  la 
violence  ne  peuvent  affaiblir  la  verite,  et  ne  sei-vent  qiia  la  relever 
davantage.  Toutes  les  lumieres  de  la  virile  ne  peuvent  rien  pour  arreter 


324 


NOTES. 


la  violence  et  ne  font  que  Pirriter  encore  plus  ...  la  violence  el  la 
verite  ne  peuvent  rien  Pune  sur  V autre.  ” 

P.  67,  1.  27.  The  Fronde.  This  was  the  name  given  to  the  party 
which  rose  against  Mazarin  and  the  Court  during  the  minority  of 
Louis  XIV.,  and  plunged  France  into  civil  war. 

p.  69,  1.  10.  give  me  the  strap.  This  is  no  exaggeration,  since 
fifty  years  after  Pascal  wrote,  Voltaire  was  beaten  by  the  servants  of  the 
Due  de  Rohan. 

P.  69,  1.  12.  It  is  odd  that  Montaigne.  Essais,  1.  i.  ch.  xlii. 

P.  69,  1.  16.  When  power  attacks  craft.  Satyre  Menippee,  Harangue 
du  Sire  de  Rieux  :  “  il  n'y  a  ny  bonnet  quarrl ,  nyboarlet ,  que  je  ne  face 
voter  f 

P.  69,  1.  30.  figmentum  malum.  Ps.  ciii.  13*  Quomodo  misere - 
tur  pater  filiorum ,  misertus  est  Dominus  timentibus  sc:  Quoniam  ipse 
cognovit  figmentum  nostrum. 

P.  70,  1.  14.  Savages  laugh  at  an  infant  king.  Pascal  is  alluding  to 
the  story  in  Montaigne,  Essais,  1.  i.  ch.  xxx.,  of  the  savages  presented 
to  Charles  IX.  at  Rouen,  who  were  astonished  to  see  bearded  men 
obey  a  child. 

P.  72,  1.  16.  Epictetus.  See  p.  45,  1.  30,  in  order  to  understand 
this  somewhat  enigmatic  fragment.  In  the  next  paragraph  is  an 
allusion  to  the  passage  in  which  Epictetus  says,  1.  iv.  ch.  7,  that  the 
philosopher  may  well  be  constant  and  detached  from  life  by  wisdom,  as 
were  the  Galiloeans  by  their  fanaticism. 

P.  73.  Weakness,  unrest,  and  defects  of  man.  The  arrangements 
of  these  fragments  under  this  title  is  Molinier’s. 

P.  73,1.  1.  We  anticipate  the  future.  Compare  Montaigne,  Essais, 
1.  i.  ch.  iii. 

P.  74,  1.  28.  Alexander's  chastity.  To  attribute  this  virtue  to 
Alexander  is  strange,  but  no  doubt  the  circumstance  in  Pascal’s  thought 
was  his  generous  conduct  to  the  family  of  Darius,  after  the  battle  of  Issus. 

P.  75,  1.  12.  the  King  of  England.  Probably  Charles  II.,  then 
living  in  exile,  rather  than  Charles  I.  The  Ring  of  Poland  was  Jean 
Casimir,  driven  from  his  throne  by  Charles  X.  of  Sweden,  after  the 
battle  of  Warsaw  in  1656.  The  Queen  of  Sweden  was  Christina, 
daughter  of  Gustavus  Adolphus,  who  abdicated  in  favour  of  her  cousin, 
Charles  X.,  in  1654* 

P.  75,  1.  29.  we  shall  die  alone,  “on  mourra  seul.”  It  is  a  curious 
instance  of  the  fact  how  little  Pascal  is  known  in  England,  that  Keble 
having  quoted  this  sentence  wrongly,  probably  from  memory,  in  the 
first  edition  of  the  Christian  Year,  as  “Je  mourrai  seul,”  it  has 
remained  uncorrected  and  apparently  unnoticed  to  this  day. 


NOTES. 


325 

P.  76,  1.  12.  Cromwell.  As  Charles  II.  was  restored  in  1660, 
this  fragment  was  written  about  that  date,  two  years  before  Pascal’s 
death.  Cromwell  s  death  did  not  arise  from  the  cause  stated  in  the  text. 

P.  77,  1.  8.  the  automaton.  The  expression  of  Descartes  and  his 
school  for  the  animal  body. 

P.  77,  1.  25.  Inclina  cor  meum ,  Dens.  Ps.  cxix.  36.  “  Tnclina 

cor  meum  in  testimonia  tua,  et  non  in  avaridam .  ” 

P*  77>  b  3°-  Eritis  shut  dii.  Gen.  iii.  5. 

1  .  79,  1.  30.  men  laugh  and  weep  at  the  same  thing.  The  thought 
is  from  Charron,  Trail e  de  la  Sagesse,  1.  i.  ch.  xxxviii. 

1 .  80,  1.  35.  the  grand  Sultan.  None  of  Pascal’s  editors  have 
discovered  whence  he  drew  this  purely  fictitious  description  of  the 
Sultan. 

P.  81,  1.  9.  That  epigram  about  the  duo  one-eyed  people.  This  is  not 
Martial’s.  It  is  found  in  Epigrammatum  Delectus,  published  by  Port 
Royal  in  1659. 

Lumine  Aeon  dextro,  capta  est  Leonilla  sinistro, 

Et  pods  est  Jorma  vincere  uterque  Deos. 

Blande  puer,  lumen  quod  habes  concede  par  end  ; 

Situ  ccecus  Amor ,  sic  erit  ilia  Venus. 

P.  Si,  1.  12.  Ambitiosa  recidet  ornamenta.  Horace,  De  Arte  Poedca, 
v.  447. 

P.  83,  1.  22.  Spongia  sods.  The  spots  on  the  sun.  Du  Cange 
explains  spongia  by  macula.  Pascal  seems  to  mean  that  the  spots  on 
the  sun  prepare  us  for  its  total  extinction  ;  that  the  sun  will  eventually 
expire,  so  that,  contrary  as  it  seems  to  the  course  of  nature,  there  will 
come  a  day  when  there  will  be  no  sun. 

P.  89.  The  title  given  to  this  second  part  is  furnished  by  Pascal. 
In  the  first  part  he  has  wished  to  prove  the  fallen  state  of  man,  and  his 
weakness  ;  he  now  maintains  that  man  may  be  restored  by  faith  in 
Jesus  Christ,  and  the  practice  of  religion. 

P.  91,  1.  26.  Nemo  novit.  Matt.  xi.  27.  El  nemo  novit  F ilium 
nisi  Pater :  neque  Patrem  quis  novit,  nisi  Filius,  et  an  voluerit  Filins 
revelare. 

P.  92,  1.  3.  Vere  tu  es.  Is.  xlv.  15,  see  p.  3,  1.  8. 

P.  92,  1.  10.  Quod  cur iositate  cognovcrint.  Probably  cited  from  recol¬ 
lection  of  Saint  Augustine,  but  the  passage  is  not  verbally  to  be  found. 

P.  96,  1.  6.  neither  the  stars. 

Porrum  et  ccepe  nefas  violare  et  frangere  morsu 
0  sanctas  gentes,  quibus  luxe  nascuntur  in  hortis 
Numina!  Juvenal,  Sal.  xv.  9. 

See  also  Montaigne,  Essais,  I.  i.  ch.  xlii. 


326 


NOTES. 


P.  97,  1.  28.  stultitiam.  I  Cor.  i.  19. 

P.  101,  1.  12.  the  opinion  of  Copernicus.  Pascal  no  doubt  refers  to 
a  passage  in  Montaigne,  Essais,  1.  ii.  ch.  xii.,  in  which  he  abstains  from 
deciding  between  the  rival  systems  of  astronomy.  Pascal,  however,  had 
no  doubt  on  the  matter  himself,  as  is  plain  from  the  passage  on  Galileo 
in  the  Eighteenth  Provincial. 

P.  1 01,  1.  16.  Fascinatio  nugacitatis.  Lib.  Sap.  iv*.  12.  Fascinatio 
enim  nugacitatis  obscurat  bona.  See  note  on  p.  165. 

P.  102,  1.  12.  So  our  people  often  act.  Fenelon,  Lettre  a  PEveque 
d'  Arras,  says,  “  Tonies  les  difficult es  s' evanouissent  sans  peine  des  qu'on 
a  Vesprit  gueri  de  la  presomption.  Alors  suivant  le  regie  de  Saint 
Augustin ,  Epist.  ad  Hier.,  on  passe  sur  tout  ce  que  V on  n'entendpas ,  ct 
on  s'edifie  de  tout  ce  qu'on  attend.  " 

See  also  De  Imitatione  Christi,  1.  i.  ch.  v. 


P.  104,  1.  4.  Harum  sententiarum.  Harum  sententiarum  qucc  vera 

sit  Deus  aliquis  viderit.  Cic.  Tuscul.i.  11. 

P.  104,  1.  14.  The  Preacher  shows.  The  precise  thought  as 
Pascal  has  it  here  is  not  easy  to  find  in  Ecclesiastes.  It  is  probably  a 
reminiscence  of  Eccles.  viii.  17* 

P.  105.  The  Philosophers.  The  title  of  this  chapter  is  that  given 
by  Molinier  to  the  collection  of  fragments  contained  in  it.  A  few 
expressions  and  thoughts  are  from  Montaigne,  many  more  from 
Descartes,  Discours  de  la  Methode. 

P.  108,  1.  16.  Deli  cue  mece.  Prov.  viii.  31. 

Ejfundam  spiritum.  Joel  ii.  28. 

DU  estis,  Ps.  Ixxxii.  6. 

Omnis  caro  fcenum.  Is.  xl.  6. 

Homo  assimilatus  est.  Ps.  xlix.  20. 

Dixi  in  corde  meo.  Eccl.  iii.  18. 

Ex  senatus  consultis.  Seneca,  Ep.  xcv. ,  sec.  3°* 
Nihil  tarn  abs-urde.  Cic.  De  Divia.  ii.  58. 

Ut  omnium  rerum.  Seneca,  Ep.  cvi.  But  the  real 
reading  is  Quemadmodum — omnium  rerum. 

P.  no,  1.  34.  Id  maxime.  Cic.  De  Off.  i.  31. 

P.  no,  1.  35.  Hos  natura  modos.  Virg.  Georg,  ii.  20. 

P.  in,  1.  4.  Mi  hi  sic  usus  est.  Ter.  Hea.  i.  1,  28. 

P.  in,  1.  6.  falsity  of  their  dilemma  in  Montaigne.  Essais,  1.  ii. 
ch.  xii.  “  Si  I'dme  est  mortclle ,  il  est  absurde  de  craindre  la  mart,  si  clle 
est  immortelle  clle  ne  pent  aller  qu'en  s'  amcli or  ant." 

P.  112,  1.  II.  Felix  qui potuit.  Virg.  Georg,  ii.  1.  489. 

P.  112,  1.  13.  nihil  inirari.  Hor.  Epist.  1,  vi.  1.  1.  The  whole 


P.  108,  1.  17. 
P.  108,  1.  17. 
P.  108,  1.  18. 
P.  108,  1.  18. 
P.  108,  1.  20. 
P.  no,  1.  28. 
P.  no,  1.  29. 
P.  no,  1.  32. 


passage  is, 


NOTES. 


327 


Nil  admirari prope  res  est  una,  Numici , 

Solaque ,  qiue  possit  facere  ct  servare  beatum 

P.  II 3,  I.  15.  two  sects.  Epicureans  and  Stoics. 

P.  1 13,  1.  17.  Des  Barreaux.  Jacques  Desbarreaux  was  an  Epicu¬ 
rean  poet  born  at  Paris  in  1602,  died  in  1673,  who  in  his  poems 
paraded  his  unbelief.  Curiously  enough,  his  only  extant  verses  were 
written  when  he  lay  ill,  and  are  addressed  to  God. 

P.  1 13,  1.  28.  Epictetus  concludes.  Encheiridion,  iv.  7. 

P.  1 13,  1.  30.  three  sects.  Pascal  no  doubt  refers  the  libido  sentiendi 
t°. the.  Epicureans,  the  libido  dominandi  to  the  Stoics,  and  the  libido 
sciendi  to  the  dogmatic  schools  of  Plato  and  Aristotle,  of  which  Cicero 
always  speaks  as  though  they  taught  one  and  the  same  philosophy. 

P.  1 14,  1.  3.  two  inches  under  water ,  are  equally  drowned  with 
those  who  are  at  the  bottom. 

P.  1 15.  The  fragments  collected  in  this  chapter  are  here  placed 
by  Molmier  according  to  the  plan  which  Pascal  had  traced  out  for  his 
work,  m  which  after  he  had  laid  the  various  philosophical  systems 
before  his  supposed  unbeliever,  he  brought  forward  for  examination  the 
other  religions. 

P.  115, 1.  20.  forbade  men  to  read  it.  It  is  not  known  whence  Pascal 
obtained  this  statement,  which  is  a  complete  mistake. 

P.  116,1.15.  Jesus  Christ  wills  that  his  testimony  to  himself  should 
>e  of  no  avail.  John  v.  31.  “  If  I  bear  witness  of  myself,  my  witness 

is  not  true.” 

P.  1 16,  1.  30.  .  The  Koran  says  that  Saint  Matthew.  The  Koran 
does  not  name  Saint  Matthew,  but  says  in  general  terms  that  Mahomet 
regarded  the  apostles  of  Jesus  as  holy. 

P.  117,  1.  27.  whose  witnesses  let  themselves  be  slaughtered.  After 
this  Pascal  had  written,  but  erased  the  words  “  which  of  the  two’  is  most 
to  be  blamed,  Moses  or  China?  ”  and  these  aid  us  in  the  explanation  of 
this  enigmatic  passage.  The  Jesuits  had  established  themselves  in 
China  at  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century,  and  when  Pascal  wrote  their 
missions  were  in  a  flourishing  state.  They  had  studied  the  language, 
history,  and  literature  of  China.  But  the  difficulty  presented  itself  of 
reconciling  the  cosmogony  and  chronology  of  the  Bible  with  those  of  the 
Chinese  sages.  It  is  probable  that  this  passage  was  inspired  by  a 
private  conversation  with  some  one  who  had  read  letters  from  a  mis¬ 
sionary,  for  no  book  on  the  subject  appears  to  have  existed  in  Pascal’s 
day. 

P.  1 18,  1.  4.  The  five  suns,  etc.  Montaigne,  from  whom  this  is 
taken,  Essais,  1.  iii.  ch.  iv.,  probably  borrowed  it  from  some  Spanish 
book  now  forgotten. 


NOTES. 


328 

P.  1 19.  Of  the  Jewish  People.  This  position  in  his  intended 
treatise,  before  the  sections  on  the  Sacred  Books  and  on  Prophecy,  is 
that  which  Pascal  himself  designed  for  his  remarks  on  the  Jew's. 

P.  123,  1.  5.  The  Masorah.  The  unwritten  tradition  of  the  Jew's. 

P.  126,  1.  9.  Quis  mi  hi  det.  Num.  xi.  29.  The  true  reading  is, 

Quis  tribuat  lit  omnis  populus  prophetet. 

P.  126,1.  17.  If  the  story  in  Esdras  is  credible.  In  the  14th  Chapter 
of  the  Second  Book  of  Esdras  God  appears  to  Esdras  in  a  bush,  and 
orders  him  to  assemble  the  people  and  deliver  the  message.  Esdras 
replies,  “  I  w  ill  go  as  thou  hast  commanded  me,  and  reprove  the  people 
which  are  present,  but  they  that  shall  be  born  afterward  who  shall 
admonish  them  ?  .  .  .  For  thy  law  is  burnt,  therefore  no  man  knoweth  the 
things  that  are  done  of  thee,  or  the  w'orks  that  shall  begin.  But  if  I  ha\e 
found  grace  before  thee,  send  the  Holy  Ghost  into  me,  and  I  shall  write 
all  that  hath  been  done  in  the  w'orld  since  the  beginning.”  .  .  ..  Then 
God  ordered  him  to  take  five  scribes,  to  whom  for  forty  days  he  dictated 
the  ancient  law. 

The  authenticity  of  this  story,  coming  into  conflict  as  it  does  with  many 
passages  of  the  prophets,  and  specially  with  Jeremiah,  appeared  open  to 
such  grave  doubts,  that  at  the  Council  of  Trent  the  last  book  of  Esdras, 
called  in  the  Catholic  Church,  Esdras  IV.,  by  Protestants  Esdras  II. ,  w'as 
then  rejected  from  the  Canon. 

P.  126,  1.  27.  Jeremiah  gave  them  the  law.  See  2  Maccabees, 
ch.  xi. 

P.  128,  1.  31.  Qui  Justus  cst  justificetur  ad  hue.  Apocal.  xvii.  4. 

P.  129,  1.  18.  a  thousand  and  twenty-two.  This  was  the  number  of 

stars  comprised  in  the  Catalogue  of  Ptolemy,  according  to  the  system  of 
Hipparchus. 

P.  132,  1.  9.  Non  habemus  regem  nisi  Cicsarem.  Joh.  xx.  15. 

P.  134,  1.  12.  Erie  pal  pans  in  meridie.  Incorrectly  quoted  from 
Deut.  xxviii.  29. 

P.  134,1.  13.  Dabitur  liber.  Incorrectly  quoted  from  Is.  xxix.  12. 
P.  135,  1.  6.  EJfundam  spiritual  meum.  Is.  xliv.  3. 

p.  135,  1.  21.  populum  non  credentem.  Is.  lxv.  2. 

P.  136,  1.  2.  ex  omnibus  iniquilatibus.  Probably  a  remembrance 
of  Is.  xliv.  22.  Delevi  ut  nubem  iniquitates  tuas 
P.  136,  1.  13.  The  little  stone.  Dan.  ii.  34. 

P.  136, 1.  33.  Omnis  Judaea  regio.  Incorrectly  quoted  from  Matt.  iii.  5. 
P.  137,  1.  3.  These  stones  can  become.  Matt.  iii.  9* 

P.  140,  1.  15.  Grotius.  The  allusion  is  no  doubt  to  his  work,  De 
Veritate  Rcligionis  Christiana-,  which  appeared  in  1662. 
p.  143,  l.  6.  the  king  of  the  Medes  and  Persians  is  Darius  Codo- 


NOTES. 


329 


manus;  the  King  of  the  Greeks,  Alexander.  The  four  kings  are, 
Seleueus,  King  of  Syria ;  Ptolemy,  King  of  Egypt ;  Lysimachus,  King 

ot  Ihrace,  and  Cassander,  King  of  Macedonia,  after  the  battle  of  Ipsus 
301  b.c.  1  ’ 

P.  143,  1-  12.  This  paragraph  refers  to  Antiochus  Epiphanes,  King 

of  Syria,  who  died  164  b.c.  See  the  account  of  his  death, 
I  Macc.  c.  6. 


p*  *45»  P  !•  And  in  the  end  of  years.  The  marriage  of  Antiochus 
Theos  with  Berenice  took  place  about  247  b.c.  Berenice  was  assassinated 
by  Seleueus  Ceraunos  soon  afterwards,  and  the  war  between  Ptolemy 
Euergetes  and  the  King  of  Syria  lasted  during  almost  all  the  reign  of  the 
latter.  Syria  regained  the  ascendancy  only  after  the  death  of  Ptolemy 
Euergetes  in  222  B.c. 


I.  145,1.26.  Raphia.  The  Battle  of  Raphia  was  gained  by  Ptolemy 
Philopator  over  Antiochus  the  Great,  217  B.c. 

P-  r45>  1-  36.  Euergetes ,  a  mistake  for  Epiphanes. 

P.  I47>  P  2.  The  leader  taken  from  the  thigh.  A  literal  translation 

of  Gen.  xlix.  10.  Non  auferetur  sceptrum  de  Juda ,  et  dux  de  femore 
opus. 

P.  152,  1.  26.  Pugio  Fidei.  The  work  so  called,  which  Pascal  first 
specifies  in  this  place,  is  one  of  which  he  made  great  use  in  all 
his  speculations  on  the  fulfilment  of  Prophecy,  and  on  the  meaning  of 
the  Hebrew  letters,  etc.  The  book,  of  which  the  full  title  is  Pugio 
Tula '  adversus  Mauros  et  f  udeeos,  was  written  in  1278  by  Raymond 
Martin,  a  Catalonian  monk.  It  remained  almost  unknown  for  four 
hundred  years,  and  was  first  printed  in  1651.  It  was,  therefore,  as  it 
were,  a  new  book  when  Pascal  became  acquainted  with  it.  Under  the 
name  Mauri  the  author  assails  not  the  Koran  nor  Mahomet,  but  Arabic 
philosophy. 

P.  -61,  1.  2.  Ut  sciatis  quod  films  Jionnnis.  Marc.  ii.  10-11.  The 
words  of  Jesus  to  the  paralytic. 

P.  164,  1.  16.  Signa  legem  in  electis  meis.  Is.  viii.  16,  where  the 
Vulgate  has  discipulis. 

1 .  165,  1.  15.  Fascination.  i.e.,  Fascinatio  nugacitatis ,  see  p.  101, 

1.  16.  The  blindness  produced  by  the  love  of  temporal  possessions,  or 
as  the  A.  V.  translates  it,  “  the  bewitching  of  naughtiness.” 

P.  165,  1.  15.  Sotnnum  suum.  Ps.  lxxvi.  5.  Turbati  sunt  omnes 
insipientes  corde.  Dormierunt  somnum  suum:  et  nihil  invenerunt 
omnes  vin  divitiarum  in  manilms  suis. 

P.  165,  1.  15.  Figura  hujus  inundi.  1  ad  Cor.  vii.  31.  Et  qui 
ut unt  ur  hoc  vuindo,  tanquam  non  utantur :  prater  it  enim  figura  hujus 
mundi. 


33° 


NOTES. 


P.  165,  1.  16.  Comedes  pane m  tuuni.  Deut.  viii.  9.  Pattern 
nostrum.  Luc.  xi.  3. 

P.  165,  1.  17.  Inimici  Dei  terrain  lingent.  Ps.  lxxii.  8.  The 
Psalm  is  of  Solomon,  Inimici  ejus  terrain  lingent. 

P.  165,  1.  22.  cum  amaritudinibus.  Ex.  xii.  8,  where  the  Vulgate 

has  cum  lactucis  agrestibus. 

P.  165,  1.  24.  Singularis  sum  ego.  Ps.  cxli.  10,  where  the  true 
reading  is  “ singulariter." 

P*  165,  1.  34-  have  no  right.  The  following  is  the  explana¬ 

tion  of  this  and  the  next  two  paragraphs  :  In  Is.  ix.  6,  a  prophecy 
which  the  Rabbis  apply  to  Messiah,  and  Christian  interpreters  to  Jesus, 
are  the  words  :  Parvulus  emm  natus  est  nobis  .  .  .  midtiplicabatur 
cjus  imperium.  In  the  Hebrew  words  representing  this  latter  clause, 
the  closed  mem,  a  letter  ordinarily  employed  only  at  the  end  of  a 
word,  occurs  where  an  open  mem  should  be  used.  From  this  ortho¬ 
graphic  mistake  the  Rabbis  have  concluded  that  Messiah  would  be 
born  of  a  virgin,  ex  virgine  clausa.  Moreover,  as  the  closed  mem  in 
Hebrew  writing  means  six  hundred,  the  Rabbis  supposed  that  Messiah 
was  to  come  six  hundred  years  after  Isaiah.  The  final  tsade  has  the 
same  value  as  the  closed  mem. 

P.  166,  1.  8.  the  way  of  the  philosopher's  stone,  no  doubt  the  way  of 
finding  the  philosopher’s  stone.  The  dreams  of  the  alchemists  on  this 
subject  were  early  mingled  with  those  of  the  Rabbis  on  the  Messiah. 
Nor  had  the  Cabbala  lost  all  credit  in  Pascal’s  days.  In  1629  Robert 
Fludd,  in  Latin  De  Fluctibus,  an  Englishman,  educated  at  Oxford,  and 
a  Fellow  of  the  College  of  Physicians,  published  at  Frankfort  his 
Medicina  Catholica.  In  this,  sect.  1.  pt.  ii.  b.  1.  ch.  i.  he  speaks 
of  sicknesses  and  healing  as  both  sent  from  God  by  angelic  inter¬ 
mediaries,  and  that  all  angelic  natures  are  summed  up  in  the  great  angel 
Mittatron,  whom  the  Scriptures  call  Wisdom.  In  a  further  passage  he 
says  that  in  him  whom  the  Cabalists  call  Mittatron  others  recognise 
Messiah,  and  quotes  the  passage  of  Isaiah  in  which  occurs  the  closed 
mem. 

In  Reuchlin’s  book  De  Arte  Cabalislica  the  open  mem  is  said  to  repre¬ 
sent  the  sphere  of  Jupiter,  and  the  closed  mem  the  sphere  of  Mars. 

P.  166,  1.  12.  Apocalyptics.  Interpreters  of  the  Apocalypse. 

P.  166,  1.  13.  Prea da  miles.  Those  who  hold  that  Adam  was  the 
progenitor  of  the  Jews  only,  and  not  of  the  whole  human  race. 

P.  1 66,  1.  13.  Millenarians.  The  believers  in  the  reign  of  Christ 
on  earth  for  a  thousand  years. 

P.  166,  1.  19.  The  allusion  is  probably  to  2  Paralip.  i.  14.  Et  fecit 
cos  esse  in  urbibtis  q uadrtga ru m,  et  cum  rege  in  Jerusalem. 


NOTES. 


331 


Ps.  cxii.  4.  But  the  word  cordc 


P.  166,  1.  31.  Exortum  est  lumen. 
does  not  appear  in  the  Vulgate. 

P.  168,  1.  30.  Agnus  occisus  est.  Apoc.  xiii.  8. 

P.  170,  1.  23.  the  breasts  of  the  Spouse.  Song  of  Songs,  iv.  5. 

P.  171,  1.  32.  Nisi  fccissem.  A  partial  citation  of  Joh.  xv.  24. 

P.  I74>  32*  Adam  forma  fit  tun,  ad  Rom.  v.  14. 

p.  1 75>  1*  7-  the  six  mornings.  This  passage  is  taken  from  S. 
Aug.  De  Genesi  contra  Manichczos,  i.  23.  Pascal  probably  intending 
to  write  les  six  orients,  dawns  or  mornings,  his  amanuensis  has  written 
les  six  arians,  a  source  of  much  misunderstanding.  The  six  mornings 
are,  the  creation  ;  the  deliverance  from  the  Ark  ;  the  call  of  Abraham  ; 
the  carrying  away  into  Babylon  ;  the  preaching  of  Jesus. 

P.  175,  1.  29.  Fac  secundum  exemplar.  Exod.  xxv.  40  but  the 
Vulgate  has  monstratum.  ’ 

P.  176,  1.  9.  Saint  Paul  says.  1  Cor.  vii.  ;  1  Tim.  iv.  3. 

P.  176,  1.  14.  On  which  Saint  Paul  says.  Heb.  viii.  5. 

P.  176,  1.  16.  Veri  adoratores.  Joh.  iv.  23.  Ecce  agnus  Dei. 

Joh.  i.  29. 

P.  187,  1.  11.  ne  evacuata  sit  crux.  1  ad  Cor.  i.  17.  ut  non 
evacuetur  crux  Christ i. 

P.  187,  1.  12.  says  that  he  came  neither  with  wisdom  nor  with  signs 
See  however  2  Con  xii.  12.  “Truly  the  signs  of  an  apostle  were 

wrought  among  you  in  all  patience,  in  signs  and  wonders  and  mighty 
deeds.” 

P.  191,  l  7-  Deli  cite  meat.  Prov.  viii.  31.  Ef undam.  Joel,  ii.  28. 
Dnestis.  Ps.  Ixxxii.  6.  Omnis  carofcenum.  Is.  xl.  6.  Homo  comparatus 
est.  Ps.  xlix.  20.  Dixi  in  corde.  Eccles.  iii.  18. 

P.  192,  I.  3.  Marton.  Probably  a  mistake  of  the  amanuensis  for 
Miton.  See  p.  12,  1.  22. 

P.  192,  1.  10.  Sapientius  est  hominibus.  1  ad  Cor.  i.  25. 


P.  194,  1.  5 

passage  runs  : 


Nemo  ante  obitum  beatusest.  Ovid,  Met.  iii.  136.  The 

Dicique  beat  us 

Ante  obitum  nemo  supremaque  funer a  debet. 

The  citations  from  the  Rabbis  are  taken  from  the 


P.  194,  1.  19. 

Pugio  Eide  i. 

P*  x95>  36-  Chronology  of  Rabblnism.  The  chronology  here 

given  is  in  many  points  at  variance  with  modern  scholarship. 

P.  197,  1.  19.  Salutare  tuum  expectabo.  Gen.  xlix.  18. 

P.  200,  1.  12.  Miserere.  The  first  word  of  Ps.  li.,  “  Miserere  mei 
Dens.”  Expectavi.  The  first  word  of  Ps.  xl.,  “  Expect ans  cxpectavi 
DominumP 


NOTES. 


'l  o 

P.  200,  1.  29.  Dixit  Dominus.  The  first  words  of  Ps.  cx. 

P.  209,  1.  11.  Excceca.  Is.  vi.  10. 

P.  210,  1.  13.  nisi  efficiamini.  Matt,  xviii.  3. 

P.  213,  1.  21.  Quis  viihi  det  nt.  Job,  xix.  23-25. 

P.  215,  1.  5.  Quare  fremuerunt  gentes.  Ps.  ii.  1,  2. 

P.  215,  1.  30.  Ingrediens  mundum.  Probably  a  recollection  of  the 
meaning,  but  not  the  words,  of  Heb.  i.  6. 

P.  215,  1.  31.  Stone  upon  stone.  Mark,  xiii.  2. 

P.  216,  1.  23.  in  sanctificationem  et  in  scandalum,  a  partial  quotation 
of  Isaiah,  viii.  14. 

P.  217,  1.  3.  yEnigmatis.  The  word  nowhere  appears,  but  the 
allusion  is  no  doubt  to  1  ad  Cor.  xiii.  12.  Videmus  nunc  per  speculum 
in  cenigmate ,  tunc  autem  facie  ad faciem. 

P.  219,  1.  3.  gladium  tuum.  Ps.  xlv.  3.  Accingere  gladio  tuo 
super  femur  tuum,  potcntissimc. 

P.  220,  1.  21.  He  hath  blinded  them.  Is.  vi.  10. 

P.  221,  1.  22.  Great  Pan  is  dead.  Plutarch  De  Oraculis. 

P.  221,  1.  26.  Barcoseba,  or  Barcochebas,  a  Jewish  impostor  who 
claimed  to  be  the  Messiah,  a.d.  135. 

P.  222,  1.  3.  Curse  of  the  Greeks ,  no  doubt  against  those  Pleretics 
who  tried  to  discover  the  exact  date  of  the  end  of  the  world. 

P.  225,  1.  19.  Quia  non  cognovit.  The  quotation  is  modified  from 
1  ad  Cor.  i.  21,  and  with  the  important  omission  of  the  final  word 
“  credenies.  ” 

P.  226,  1.  24.  Quod  ergo  ignorantes  queeritis.  Adapted  from  Act. 
Ap.  xvii.  23.  Quod  ergo  ignorantes  colitis  ego  annuncio  voids. 

P.  226,  1.  28.  via,  veritas.  Joh.  xiv.  6. 

P.  22 7,  1.  12.  faddus  to  Alexander.  Jaddus  was  the  Jewish  High 
Priest,  who  on  Alexander’s  invasion  of  Syria  refused  to  aid  him.  There¬ 
upon  Alexander  marched  on  Jerusalem.  Jaddus  came  out  to  meet  him  in 
processional  pomp,  when  the  conqueror  prostrated  himself  at  his  feet, 
saying  he  had  seen  such  a  man  in  a  dream,  who  had  promised  him  the 
Empire  of  Asia. 

P.  228,  1.  14.  Archimedes,  though  of  princely  birth.  Plutarch  says 
that  Archimedes  was  of  a  family  allied  to  that  of  Hiero,  King  of  Syra¬ 
cuse. 

P.  229,  1.  11.  I  will  bless  those  that  bless  thee.  Gen.  xii.  3.  Bene- 
dicam  benedicentibus  tibi. 

P.  229,  1.  13.  Parum  est  ut.  Is.  xlix.  6.  Parum  est  ut  sis  mihi 
servus  ad  susci/andas  tribus  Jacob  et  faeces  Israel  convertcndas.  Ecce  dedi 
te  in  lucem  gentium. 

P.  229,  1.  15.  Non  fecit  tali.'cr.  Ps.  cxlvii.  20. 


NOTES. 


333 


P.  230,  1.  8.  Jesus  Christ  the  Redeemer  of  all.  “Jesu  Redemptor 
omnium  ”  is  the  first  verse  of  the  Christmas  Vesper  Hymn. 

P.  230,  1.  21.  Lord,  when  saw  we  thee  an  hungered?  Matt.  xxv.  34. 

P.  231.  The  Mystery  of  Jesus.  This  fragment  has  only  been 
included  by  more  recent  editors.  But  it  exists  in  the  autograph  MS., 
and  unquestionably  forms  a  part  of  the  intended  work. 

P.  231,  1.  3.  turbare  semetipsum.  Joh.  xi.  33.  In  the  text 
turbavit  seif  sum. 

P.  232,  1.  9.  Eamus.  Process  it.  A  recollection  of  Joh.  xviii.  4, 
but  the  word  eamus  does  not  occur  in  the  verse,  being  borrowed  from 
the  account  in  Matt.  xxvi.  46. 

P.  233,  1.  25.  ut  immundus  pro  Into.  Possibly  a  reminiscence  and 
misquotation  of  2  Pet.  ii.  22.  Sits  lota  in  volutabro  luti. 

P.  234,  1.  33.  Noli  me  tangere.  Joh.  xx.  17. 

P.  235,  I.  21.  Et  tu  conversus.  Luc.  xxii.  32.  Conversus  Jesus,  ib. 
61.  before  should  be  “  after.” 

P.  238,  1.  16.  Qiri  adheeret  Deo.  1  ad  Cor.  v.  17.  Qui  autem  ad • 
heeret  Domino  units  spirit  us  est. 

P.  238,  1.  28.  because  it  has  perhaps  merited  ours.  See  Bossuet’s 
Catechism.  QiC  entendez  vous  par  la  Communion  des  Saints  ?  J' attends 
principalment  la  participation  quont  tons  les  fi deles  an  fruit  des  bonnes 
ceuvres  les  uns  des  autres. 

P.  240,  1.  28.  Book  of  Wisdom.  Ch.  ii.  6.  But  the  sense  only,  and 
not  the  words,  is  given. 

P.  24 1,  1.  16.  et  non  intres  in  judicium.  Ps.  cxliii.  2. 

P.  241,  1.  19.  The  goodness  of  God.  Rom.  ii.  4. 

P.  241,  1.  20.  Let  us  do  penance.  Jonah,  iii.  9.  But  the  sense 
only,  not  the  words,  is  quoted. 

P.  243,  1.  2.  qui gloriatur,  in  Domino  glorietur.  1  ad  Cor.  i.  31. 

P.  243,  1.  4.  libido  sentiendi.  From  Jansenius,  De  statu  natures 
lapses,  ii.  8. 

P.  243,  1.  5.  Woe  to  the  accursed  land.  This  and  the  following 
paragraphs  are  taken  from  Saint  Augustine’s  commentary  on  Ps.  cxxxvii., 
Super  Jlumina  Babylonis. 

P.  244,  I.  I.  Abraham  took  nothing  for  himself .  Gen.  xiv.  24. 

P.  244,  1.  5.  Sub  te  erit  appetitus  tuns.  Gen.  iv.  7. 

P.  244,  1.  29.  Multi  ere  did erunt.  Joh.  viii.  30-33. 

P.  245,  1.  17.  Comminutum  cor.  No  doubt  a  misquotation  of  Ps.  Ii. 
cor  contritum  et  humiliatum,  Deus,  non  despicies. 

P.  245,  1.  18.  A l be  vous  a  nomme.  Corneille,  Horace,  act  ii.  sc.  3. 

P.  248,  1.  I.  Omnis  creatura  subjecta  est  vanitati.  Eccles.  iii.  19, 
but  the  true  reading  is  “  cuncta  subjacent  vanitati .” 


33  4 


NOTES. 


P.  249,  1.  33.  Inclina  cor  victim.  Ps.  cxix.  36. 

P.  251,  1.  13.  Ne  evacuetur  crux  Christi.  1  ad  Cor.  i.  17 

P-  253.  The  Arrangement.  Scattered  here  and  there  in  Pascal’s 
MS.  were  a  number  of  notes  concerning  the  plan,  form,  and  matter  of 
his  intended  treatise,  many  of  them  marked  with  the  word  “  Ordre .” 
These  are  gathered  together  by  recent  editors,  and  some  others  which 
seem  to  cohere  with  them  added,  but  Molinier’s  arrangement,  as  well  as 
that  of  Faugere,  is  necessarily  somewhat  arbitrary. 

P.  254,  1.  6.  Justus  ex  fide  vivit.  Habac.  ii.  4.  Ad  Rom.  i.  17. 

P.  254,  1.  8.  fides  ex  auediu.  Ad  Rom.  x.  17. 

P.  254,  1.  14.  divide  my  moral  qualities  into  four.  The  classical 
division  of  ancient  philosophy  was  into  four  :  prudence,  temperance, 
justice,  magnanimity. 

P.254,1.16.  Abstine  et  sustine.  The  Stoic  formula. 

P.  257.  The  J\hracle  of  the  Holy  Thorn.  Marguerite  Perier, 
Pascal’s  niece,  aged  ten,  was  cured  of  lachrymal  fistula  on  March  24, 
1656,  after  touching  the  diseased  part  with  a  reliquary  containing  a 
thorn  from  the  Saviour’s  crown.  This  was  at  the  time  that  Port  Royal 
was  suffering  deeply  from  persecution,  and  was  considered  by  many  a 
signal  mark  of  the  favour  of  heaven.  The  Jesuits  did  not  deny  the 
miracle,  but  the  conclusions  drawn  from  it. 

P.  257,  1.  20.  those  who  heal  by  invocation  of  the  devil.  Pascal,  when 
a  child,  was  supposed  both  to  have  been  made  ill  and  restored  to  health 
by  a  witch.  Pie  desires  to  show  that  this  was  no  miracle. 

P.  258,  1.  9.  Believe  the  Church.  Matt,  xviii.  17. 

P.  258,  1.  13.  Montaigne.  Cf.  Essais,  i.  26. 

P.  258,  1.  23.  Judcei  sign  a  petunt.  1  ad  Cor.  i.  22. 

P.  258,  1.  25.  Sed  plenum  signis.  This  and  the  following  one  are 
not  to  be  found.  Pascal  is  probably  citing  Saint  Paul  from  memory. 

P.  258,  1.  29.  Sed  vos  non  credit  is.  Joh.  x.  26. 

P.  261,  1.  5.  Saint  Augustine.  Pascal  does  not  appear  to  refer  to 
any  single  passage,  but  to  the  general  teaching  of  Saint  Augustine.  But 
see  especially  De  Civil.  Dei ,  xxii.  9. 

P.  262,  1.  19.  Scimus  quia  venisti  a  Deo.  Joh.  iii.  2. 

P.  263,  1.  3.  We  have  Moses.  John  ix.  21. 

P.  263,  1.  30.  Quid  debui.  Is.  v.  4.  Quid  cst  quod  debui  facere 
vinece  mecc  ct  non  feci  ei. 

P.  264,  1.  16.  Barjesus  was  blinded.  Acts  xiii.  6-1 1. 

P.  264,  1.  22.  Si  angelus.  A  reference  to  ad  Gal.  i.  8. 

P.  264,  1.  28.  my  good  father.  Probably  Father  Annat.  See 
p.  289,  1.  28. 

P.  265,  1.  21.  1  P.  ix.  1 13,  a.  10,  ad.  2.  These  signs  refer  to  the 


NOTES. 


335 

Summa  of  Saint  Thomas  Aquinas  here  quoted,  and  mean  Parte  i, 
qucestione  113,  articulo  10,  ad  objectionevi  2. 

P.  265,  1.  22.  Si  tu  es  Christus.  Luc.  xxii.  66. 

P.  265,  1.  23.  Opera  qua;  ego  facio.  Joh.  v.  36. 

P.  265,  1.  25.  Sed  non  vos  creditis.  Joh.  x.  26. 

P.  265,  1.  29.  Nemo potest  facere  signa.  Joh.  iii.  2. 

P*  265>  h  34-  Generatio prava.  Matt.  xii.  39. 

P.  266,  1.  5.  Nisi  videritis  signa  non  creditis.  Joh.  iv.  48. 

P .  266,  I.  9.  Secundum  operationem  Satance.  2  ad  Thess.  ii.  9. 

P.  266,  1.  12.  Tentat  enim  vos  Deus.  Deut.  xiii.  3. 

P.  266,  1.  14.  Ecce  prcedixi  vobis.  Matt.  xxiv.  25. 

P.  267,  1.  26.  Father  Lingende.  Claude  de  Lingendes,  1591-1660, 
was  a  Jesuit  preacher.  His  sermons  were  published  in  1666. 

P.  268,  1.  11.  Ubi  est  Deus  tuus.  Ps.  xlii.  3. 

P.  268,  1.  22.  do  not  believe  that  the  five  propositions  are  in  fatisenius. 
To  explain  this  fully  would  need  a  far  longer  note  than  can  here  be 
given.  It  may  be  said  shortly  that  the  allusion  is'to  the  “Augustinus ” 
of  Cornelius  Jansen,  Bishop  of  Ypres.  Two  questions  arose  :  first, 
whether  the  propositions  condemned  were  heretical,  and  second, 
whether  if  heretical  they  were  in  Jansen’s  book.  The  second  assertion 
was  that  which  the  nuns  of  Port  Royal  refused  to  make.  They  had  not 
read  the  book,  and  could  not  affirm  that  of  which  they  were  ignorant. 
The  five  propositions  were  on  the  Doctrines  of  Grace  and  Free  Will. 

P.  268,  1.  27*  Tu  quid  dicis.  These  are  partial  quotations  from 
Joh.  iv.  19,  etc. 

P.  269,  1.  9.  Nemo  facit  virtutem.  Marc.  ix.  38,  but  incorrectly. 
The  true  reading  is  Nemo  est  enim  qui faciat. 

P.  269,  1.  25.  Omne  regnum  divisum.  Matt.  xii.  25. 

P.  269,  1.  28.  Si  in  digito  Dei.  Luc.  xi.  20. 

P.  269,  1.  35.  Vatable,  who  died  in  1517,  was  professor  of  Hebrew  at 
the  College  Royal  established  by  Francis  I.  In  1539  Robert.  Etienne 
published  an  edition  of  the  Latin  Bible  of  Leo  of  Modena — Rabbi 
Jehuda — to  which  he  added  under  Vatable ’s  name,  notes  which  were 
not  really  Vatable’s,  but  borrowed  from  various  writers  of  the  Reforma¬ 
tion.  These  notes  were  condemned  by  the  Sorbonne.  The  Bible 
known  as  that  of  Vatable  contains  the  Hebrew,  the  Vulgate  Version, 
and  that  of  Rabbi  Jehuda. 

P.  271,  1.  23.  miracles  of  Vespasian.  Tacitus,  Hist.  iv.  81. 

P.  273.  Jesuits  and Jansenists.  A  collection  of  fragments  on  these 
subjects,  which  perhaps  might  be  considered  rather  as  an  appendix  to, 
or  notes  for  the  Provincial  Letters ,  than  a  part  of  the  Thoughts ,  properly 
so  called.  But  they  form  part  of  the  autograph  MS. 


33^ 


NOTES. 


P.  273,  1.  9.  There  is  a  time  to  laugh.  Eccles.  iii.  4.  Responde ,  ne 
respondeas.  Prov.  xxvi.  4. 

P.  275,  1.  9.  Elias  was  a  man  like  ourselves.  Quoted  by  memory 
as  from  Saint  Peter,  but  really  from  Saint  James,  v.  17. 

P.  275,  1.  14.  accused  of  many  crinies.  Athanasius  was  accused  of 
rape,  of  murder,  and  of  sacrilege.  He  was  condemned  by  the  Councils 
of  Tyre,  A.D.  335,  of  Arles,  A.D.  353,  and  of  Milan  A.D.  355.  Pope 
Liberius,  after  having  long  refused  to  ratify  the  condemnation,  was 
said  to  have  finally  done  so  A.D.  357.  But  this  is  disputed  by  recent 
authorities.  For  Athanasius  we  are  of  course  here  to  read  Jansenius  and 
Arnauld  ;  for  Saint  Theresa,  la  mere  Angelique  or  la  mere  Agnes ;  for 
Liberius,  Clement  IX. 

P.  275, 1.  33.  Antonio  Escobar y  Mendoza.  The  Spanish  Jesuit  whose 
system  of  morals  was  so  severely  handled  by  Pascal  in  the  Provincial 
Letters.  He  is  among  those  whose  names  have  given  rise  to  a  word : 
“  escobardene  ”  is  a  synonym  for  equivocation. 

P.  276,  1.  6.  ALolina,  Louis,  a  Spanish  Jesuit,  born  1535,  died  1601. 
The  Jansenists  accused  his  Commentary  on  the  Summaof  Saint  Thomas 
Aquinas  of  favouring  a  lax  morality. 

P.  277,  1.  4.  Mohatra.  “The  contract  Mohatra,  by  which  a  man 
buys  cloth  at  a  dear  rate  and  on  credit,  to  re-sell  it  at  once  to  the  same 
person  cheaply  for  ready  money.”  Eighth  Provincial. 

P.  278,  1.  21.  Est  and  non  est.  “  Distinguo  ”  applied  in  matters 
of  faith. 

P.  278,  1.  26.  Vce  qui  conditis  leges  iniquas.  Is.  x.  1.  But  the  Vul¬ 
gate  reads  Vce  qui  condunt. 

P.  279,  1.  22.  M.  de  Condran.  No  doubt  Charles  de  Condren, 
1588-1641,  doctor  of  the  Sorbonne,  and  second  General  of  the  French 
Oratory,  a  society  of  priests  founded  by  Cardinal  de  Berulle  at  Paris 
in  1611. 

P.  280,  1.  7.  Sanctificavi  prcdium.  Mic.  iii.  5. 

P.  280,  1.  12.  Ne  convertantur.  Is.  vi.  10. 

P.  282,  1.  21.  Coacervabunt  tibi  magistros.  2  ad  Tim.  iv.  3,  where 
the  Vulgate  has  “  sibi.  ” 

P.  282,  1.  28.  not  to  make  appointments  to  bishoprics.  But  a  few  years 
after  this  Fathers  La  Chaise  and  Le  Tellier,  as  Confessors  to  the  King, 
had  this  power  in  their  hands. 

P.  282,  1.  31.  Father  Brisacier ,  born  1603,  a  Jesuit,  and  a  warm 
opponent  of  Jansenism.  He  wrote  Le  Jansenisme  confondu,  and  several 
minor  works.  He  is  constantly  quoted  in  the  Provincial  Letters. 

P.  283,  1.  1.  Venice.  The  Jesuits  had  just  returned  to  Venice  in 
1657,  having  been  expelled  thence  in  1606. 

P.  283,  1.  22.  Amice,  ad  qiiid  venisti.  Matt.  xxvi.  50. 


NOTES. 


337 

P.  283,  1.  24.  probability ,  or,  technically,  probabilism.  Probabilistic 
teaches  that  it  is  permissible  to  act  on  an  opinion  which  is  less  probable 
than  the  opinion  opposed  to  it  so  long  as  there  is  a  solid  ground  for 
regarding  it  as  probable  in  itself.  Thus,  if  out  of  three  moral  theologians 
of  recognised  authority,  two  give  it  as  their  opinion  that  a  certain  course 
of  conduct  is  unlawful,  while  the  third  asserts  it  to  be  lawful,  probabilism 
permits  the  adoption  in  practice  of  the  third  opinion  in  opposition  to  the 

other  two.  A  confessor  would  therefore  have  no  right  to  forbid  it  under 
pain  of  sin. 

P.  284,  1.  12.  Dii  estis.  Ps.  Ixxxii.  6. 

P.  284, 1.  13.  If  my  Letters  are  condemned  at  Rome.  The  Provincial 
Letters  were  condemned  at  Rome,  Sept.  6,  1657. 

P*  2^5>  P  22*  imago.  An  allusion  to  the  famous  panegyric  on  the 
Jesuits  called,  “  Imago primi  scvculi.”  See  Fifth  Provincial. 

P.  285,  1.  36.  Si  non  fecissem  quce  alius  non  fecit.  Joh.  xv.  24. 

P.  286,  1.  31.  These  nuns.  The  nuns  of  Tort  Royal  were  called 
upon  to  sign  the  Formula  which  declared  that  the  Five  Propositions 
were  in  Jansenius. 

P.  287,  I.  4.  Vide  si  via  iniquitatis  in  me  cst.  Ps.  cxxxix.  24. 

P.  287,  1.  15.  they  are  so  no  longer,  i.e.  since  the  miracle. 

P.  288,  1.  18.  Vos  autcm  non  sic.  Luc.  xxii.  26. 

P.  289,  1.  28.  Annat,  1590-1670,  a  Jesuit  priest.  Provincial  of  the 
Order,  and  Confessor  to  Louis  XIV.,  1654-1670.  He  wrote  the  well- 
known  book,  Le  Rabat-joie  des  Jansenistes,  1666,  and  to  him  were 
addressed  Pascal’s  Seventeenth  and  Eighteenth  Provincials. 

P.  290,  1.  9.  Montalte.  Louis  de  Montalte  was  the  pseudonym 
adopted  by  Pascal  as  the  writer  of  the  Provincial  Letters. 

P.  290,  1.  26.  A  fructibus  eorum.  Matt.  vii.  16. 

P.  291,  1.  6.  Lessius,  Leonard,  a  Jesuit  born  at  Brecht,  near  Antwerp, 
1554,  died  1623,  a  pupil  of  Suarez.  He  was  censured  by  the  Faculty 
of  Louvain  in  1584.  He  wrote,  among  others,  a  treatise,  De  licito  usu 
(cquivocationum  et  mentalium  restrictionum. 

P.  29i,  1  9*  Bonny.  Pascal  in  his  Eighth  Provincial  quotes  an  opinion 
of  Father  Bauny  on  the  question  of  restitution  to  be  made  by  one  who 
has  caused  the  burning  of  his  neighbour’s  barn. 

P.  291,  1.  10.  quam  primum.  A  reference  to  the  rule  that  if  a 
priest  personally  disqualified  from  saying  Mass  on  account  of  any  mortal 
sin  is  yet  obliged  to  do  so  for  the  sake  of  his  parishioners,  it  is  sufficient 
that  he  make  an  act  of  contrition,  and  as  soon  as  possible  “quam primum  ” 
seek  the  Sacrament  of  Penance. 

P .  292,  1.  18.  State  super  vias.  A  partial  quotation  from  Jer.  vi.  16. 

P*  293>  k  20.  Vince  in  bono  malum.  Ad  Rom.  xii.  21. 

Z 


338 


NOTES. 


P.  297,  1.  5.  Bibite  cx  hoc  omnes.  Matt.  xxvi.  27. 

P.  297,  1.  7.  In  quo  omnes  peccaverunt.  Ad  Rom.  v.  12. 

P.  298,  1.  10.  Ne  timeas,  pusillits  grex.  Luc.  xii.  32. 

P.  298,  1.  13.  Qui  me  recipii.  Matt.  x.  40. 

P.  298,  1.  14.  Nemo  scit  neqite  Filins.  Luc.  x.  22. 

P.  298,  1.  15.  Nubes  Incida  obumbravit.  Matt.  xvii.  v 

P.  303,  1.  6.  plus poetice  quam  humane  locutus  es.  Petronius,  c.  90, 
where  the  words  have  not  the  turn  that  Pascal  here  gives  them. 

P.  304,  1.  2.  The  part  that  I  take  in  your  sorrow.  The  Chevalier 

de  Mere,  in  his  Discours  de  la  Conversation,  says,  that  he  had  been 

vfitness  to  a  bet,  that  on  opening  a  letter  of  condolence  the  set  phrase 
condemned  above  would  occur,  and  that  the  lady  to  whom  the 
letter  was  addressed  could  not  help  laughing  in  spite  of  her  distress. 
Pascal’s  note  is  against  writing  mere  formal  phrases  which  can  thus  be 
easily  guessed.  The  Cardinal  is  Mazarin. 

P.  304,  1.  9.  M.  le  M.  Le  Maistre,  Antoine,  1608-1658.  The 
allusion  is  to  Lcs  Plaidoyers  ct  Harangues  de  M.  le  Maistre,  Paris, 
1657.  On  the  first  page  of  Plaidoyer  VI.,  Pour  un  fils  mis  cn  religion 
par  force ,  we  find  “  Dieu  qui  repand  des  aveuglements  ct  des  tenebres 
stir  les  passions  illegitimes,  ”  and  Pascal  probably  refers  to  this  passage  as 
one  in  which  the  word  repandr e  could  not  be  replaced  by  verser. 

P.  305,  1.  23.  I  judge  by  my  watch.  Mile.  Perier  says,  that  Pascal 
always  wore  a  watch  attached  to  his  left  wrist-band. 

P.  309,  1.  27.  An  example  may  be  taken  from  the  circulation  of  the 
blood.  Apparently  taken  from  Descartes,  Discours  sur  la  Methode,  pt. 
v.,  in  which  Descartes  speaks  of  Harvey’s  discovery. 

P.  309,  1.  33.  M.  de  Roannez.  Gouffier,  Due  de  Roannez,  was  a 
friend  of  Pascal,  some  seven  or  eight  years  younger  than  he.  He  was 
a  devoted  adherent  of  Port  Royal,  and  died  unmarried. 

P.  312,  1.  23.  Salomon  de  Tullic.  An  anagram  for  Louis  de  Montalte, 
see  p.  290,  1.  9. 

P.  313,  1.  11.  The  story  of  the  pike  and  frog.  This  story  has 
hitherto  escaped  research. 

P  313,  1.  17.  conatus  recedendi.  Centrifugal  force. 

P.  316,  1.  3.  When  a  strong  man  armed.  Luke  xi.  21. 


INDEX. 


INDEX. 


Abel  and  Cain  .  .  . 

Abraham . 

- - -  stones  can  become 


children  of . 

—  promises  made  to 

—  foretold  the  coining 


the  Messiah 

above  revelation 


the 


Page 

267 

197 


of 


137 

169 


21 


Absolutions  without  signs  of 

o 


261 


294,  295 
no,  184 


15 


regret  .  .  . 

Academicians 

Action,  we  must  look  beyond 
the,  at  our  past  .... 
Actions,  virtuous,  all  crimes 
have  found  place  among 
Acuteness,  loss  of  .  .  .  . 

Adam . 126 

-  witness  of  the  Messiah  169, 174 


61 

100 


his  glorious  state 
tradition  from  .  .  , 

the  first  and  the  second 


Admiration  spoils  everything 
Advent  of  Jesus  Christ .  .  . 

Advents,  the  two,  characters 
of  each  of  them  .... 

Agamemnon . 

Age,  its  influence  on  judgment 
Agitation,  in  seeking  repose 
we  are  only  seeking  .  .  . 

Agony  of  Jesus  Christ  .  .  . 

lasts  even  to  the  end 


193 

201 

231 

58 

J33 


132 


1 73 

27 


34 


231 


of  the  world 
Alexander,  compared  to  Caesar 

-  his  chastity  .... 

and  his  successors,  fore- 


231 


4i 

74 


told  by  Daniel 

working  unconsciously 


144 


for  the  Gospel 


147 


Alexander,  Jaddus  and 
Amos,  translation  of  a  passage 

in . 

Ananias . 

Animals,  mind  and  instinct  of 

Annat,  Father . 

Antichrist,  his  miracles  fore¬ 
told  by  Jesus  Christ .  .  . 

- he  will  speak  openly 

against  God . 

-  conclusions  we  may  draw 

from  his  miracles  .... 
Apocalyptics,  the  .... 
Apostles,  their  miracles  .  . 

-  foresaw  heresies  .  .  . 

- gave  us  the  key  to  inter¬ 
pretation  of  the  Old  Testa¬ 
ment  . 

-  hypotheses  that  they 

were  deceived  or  deceivers  . 

-  and  Exorcists  .... 

Apple,  'the  golden  .... 
Archesilas,  the  sceptic  .  .  . 

Archimedes,  his  greatness  .  . 

Arians,  their  doctrine  .  .  . 

Aristotle . 

Arius,  the  miracles  of  his  time 
Artisan,  an,  who  dreams  .  . 

Astrology,  folly  of  ...  . 

Atheism,  often  produced  by 
a  false  knowledge  of  the 
world’s  judgment 

- mark  of  force  of  mind 

only  to  a  certain  degree 
Atheists,  carelessness  of,  mon¬ 
strous  . 

- two  kinds  of  ...  . 

- their  reasoning  .  .  . 


Page 

227 

155 

271 

313 

289 

259 

263 

267 
1 66 

119 

128 


159 

223 

267 

173 

63 

228 

274 

78 

267 

109 

75 


7 

hi 

4 

4 

5 


342 


INDEX. 


Page 

Atheists  arc  despicable  .  .  8 

- feelings  they  should  in¬ 
spire  in  true  Christians  .  8,  12 
- ought  to  say  things  per¬ 
fectly  clear . ill 

-  their  objections  against 

the  Resurrection  ....  223 

- to  pity  and  revile  .  .  253 

Athens . 120 

Atom,  man  is  but  an  .  5 

Augustin,  Saint,  quoted  .  So,  160 

- what  he  says  of  miracles  261 

- authority  of  his  opinion  296 

Augustus  compared  to  Julius 

'Caesar . 41 

- -  what  he  said  on  hearing 

of  the  Massacre  of  the 

Innocents . 221 

Authors,  their  vanity  mis¬ 
placed  . 3j5 

■ - how  to  understand  the 


meaning  of . 167 

Babylon,  carrying  away  into  .  122 

• - the  livers  of  ...  .  243 

Babylonians,  the  .  .  .  •  1 27 

Barcoseba . 221 

Barjesus . 264 

Barreaux,  Des . 113 

Bauny,  Father,  quoted .  .  .  291 

Beatitude,  the  eighth  .  .  .  252 

Beauty,  to  love  on  account  of, 

is  not  love . So 

-  certain  kind  of,  which 

suits  our  nature  .  .  .  .  301 

- poetical,  what  is  meant 

by  this . 3°4 

Belief,  three  means  of  .  .  .  251 

- labour  to  come  to  .  .  99 

- what  should  be  the  rule  of  308 

Benedictines,  the  ....  282 

Bible,  the  most  ancient  book  .  120 

Birth  an  advantage  ...  71 

Blame  and  praise  ....  58 

Blood,  circulation  of  the,  taken 
as  an  example  ....  309 

Bodily  functions . 31 

Body,  relation  of,  to  its  mem¬ 
bers  . 237 

Bourseys,  M . 280 


Page 

Brave  deeds,  which  aie  the 
most  estimable  ....  5^ 

Brisacier,  Father  ....  282 

Brutes,  no  admiration  for  each 
other . 5$ 

Cabala,  proofs  of  Jesus  Christ 

by  the . 1 57 

Caesar,  Julius . 147 

- compared  to  Augustus 

and  Alexander  ....  41 

Calvin . 266 

Calvinists,  their  errors  .  .  298 

Canonical  books,  proved  by 

the  heretical . 289 

Carnal,  those  who  are  .  .  .  242 

Carthusian  compared  to  a 

soldier . 74 

Casuists,  the  faithful  cannot 
reasonably  follow  their 

maxims . 277 

— —  cannot  assure  an  erring 

conscience . 293 

- with  reference  to  the 

reason  and  the  will  .  .  .  293 

- allow  free  action  to  lust .  293 

- their  doctrines  .  .  .  295 

Catholics  and  heretics  .  .  .  267 

Celsus . 116,214 

Champaign,  taken  as  a  com¬ 
parison  . 32 

Chancellor,  taken  as  an  ex¬ 
ample  . 55 

Chances,  doctrine  of  .  80 

- doctrine  of  .  , .  .  .  .  98 

Characters,  Christian  and 

human . 245 

Charity  and  lust  ....  128 

- sole  aim  of  the  Scripture  1 70 

- is  not  a  figurative  precept  170 

- supernatural  distance  of 

mind  from . 227 

- its  superiority  to  minds 

and  bodies . 228 

- truth  without,  is  but  the 

image  of  God . 250 

Charron,  estimate  of  his  work  17 
Children  frightened  at  the  face 
they  have  daubed  ...  57 

China . 299 


INDEX. 


Page 


China,  thoughts  on .  .  .  .  115 

- history  of . 1 1 7 

- religion  of  ....  119 

Chinese,  their  histories  .  .  173 

Choice,  that  we  must  make  a, 
between  belief  and  unbelief, 
reasons  for  each  alternative  9S 
Christ,  contradictory  predic¬ 
tions  concerning  .  .  .  136 


—  promised  and  awaited 
from  the  beginning  of  the 


world  - . 197 

- came  in  the  fulness  of  time  197 

Christianity,  in  what  it  con¬ 
sists  . 250 


- changes  wrought  at  its 

coming  . 134 

• - elevates  and  abases  man  187 

Christians  astonish  .philoso¬ 


phers  . 43 

—  true . ,71 

—  are  the  free  children  of 

God  . 122 


- should  look  on  them¬ 
selves  as  members  of  a  body  237 

- how  the  example  of  the 

martyrs  touches  a  true  .  .  238 

- two  kinds  of  ...  .  242 

- there  are  few  true  .  .  243 

- their  hopes  are  mingled 

with  enjoyment  and  fear  .  246 

- -  happiness  and  virtues  of 

true  . 247 

- should  unite  themselves 

to  Jesus  Christ  in  order  not 
'•to  be  hateful  to  God  .  .  247 

- true,  submit  to  folly  .  247 

- why  they  believe  with¬ 
out  having  read  the  Gospels  248 

- who  believe  without  proofs 

cannot  persuade  an  infidel, 
though  persuaded  themselves  249 
Church,  true  justice  found  in 


the . 67 

—  prefigured  by  the  Syna¬ 
gogue  . 176 

—  dangers  it  has  run  .  .  198 

—  the,  when  persecuted  is 
like  a  vessel  beaten  about 

by  a  storm . 21 1 


343 

Page 

Church,  that  is  a  good  state  of 
the,  in  which  it  is  upheld  by 

God  alone . 241 

- her  miracles  against  her 

enemies . 266 

- ancient  and  modern,  in¬ 
fluence  of  tradition  .  .  .  274 

- comparison  of  what  took 

place  in  ancient,  and  now  .  275 

- defended  by  God  against 

corruption  . 277 

• - unity  and  plurality  of  the, 

power  of  the  Pope  .  .  .  287 

- judges  of  men  by  out¬ 
ward  actions . 294 

- powei  of  the,  in  con¬ 
fession,  compared  to  that 

of  parliament . 294 

- teaches,  but  God  inspires  294 

- discipline  of  the,  needs 

reform . 295 

Cicero,  false  beauties  we  ad¬ 
mire  in  . 302 

- quoted  . no 

Circumcision  only  a  sign  .  .  175 

Clearness,  why  religion  does 

not  possess  it .  3 

Cleobuline,  a  character  in  a 

romance . 32 

Cleopatra,  the  nose  of  .  .  60 

Communing,  secret,  of  man 

with  himself . 46 

Compliments,  dislike  of  .  .  315 

Composition  of  a  work  .  .  302 

Concupiscence,  source  of  all 
our  movements  ....  81 

Condition,  our  desires  paint  for 

us  a  happy . 74 

Condran,  M.  de,  his  opinions  279 
Condrieu,  the  grapes  of  .  .  32 

Confession,  auricular,  defence 


of . 85 

- joy  and  confidence  felt 

after . 252 

Confessors  of  the  great  .  .  29 

Conscience,  evil  done  some¬ 
times  by . 279 

Contradiction  in  man  44,  60,  181 
-  does  not  prove  that  a 


thing  is  false . 210 


344 


INDEX. 


Page 

Contradiction,  apparent,  in 
Scripture,  examples  .  .  .  168 

-  between  different  pas¬ 
sages  of  Scripture  .  .  .  220 

Contrition  is  necessary  in  peni¬ 
tence,  absolution  not  enough  295 
Conversion,  in  what  it  consists  245 

Copernicus . 101 

Corneille,  quoted  ....  245 

Corruption  of  nature,  one  of 
the  establishments  of  the 
Christian  religion ....  6 

• -  of  man,  proyed  by  the 

wicked  and  the  Jews  .  .  191 

-  those  in,  should  know  it  255 

Covenant,  foretold  by  Daniel  144 


-  announced  by  Scripture  168 

Craft,  when  power  attacks  it  .  69 

Creatures,  we  should  not  at¬ 
tach  ourselves  to  them  .  .  240 

Cripples  do  not  irritate  us .  .  45 

Cromwell,  reflections  on  his 

death  . . 76 

Cross,  by  it  alone  can  we  be 

saved . 187 

Curiosity  is  mere  frivolity  .  .  60 

Custom,  a  power  ....  69 

-  belief  arising  from  .  .  7 7 

-  how  established,  may  be 

upset . 62 

-  the  creator  of  ...  62 

-  a  second  nature  which 

destroys  the  former  ...  64 

-  must  be  followed  ...  64 

-  is  our  nature  ....  65 

-  sways  the  automaton, 

which  draws  the  intellect 

after . 77 

-  how  useful  to  accustom 

us  to  truth . 77 

-  leads  to  a  choice  of  occu¬ 
pation  . 78 

Cypher,  types  are  a,  with  a 

double  sense . 158 

- - of  the  Scripture  as  given 

us  by  Saint  Paul  .  .  .  176 


Cyrus . 128,147,151 

Damned,  the,  condemned  by 
their  own  reason  ....  296 


Page 

Dancing,  why  pursued  ...  35 

Daniel,  the  seventy  weeks  of, 
their  calculation  .  .  133,  143 

—  -  the  little  stone  of  .  .  136 

-  explanation  of  the  dream 

of  Nebuchadnezzar  in  .  .  141 

-  vision  of  the  ram  and  he- 

goat  in . 142 

-  his  prophecy  .  .  .  .  171 

Darius,  King  of  the  Persians  .  144 

David,  a  single  phrase  of  .  .  122 

-  the  kingdom  of  his  race 

foretold  by  all  the  prophets  132 

- witness  of  Christ  .  .  .  140 

-  foretold  the  Messiah  .  .  170 

Death,  to  be  dreaded  by  those 
who  are  careless  of  religion  5 

-  Montaigne’s  opinions  on  17 

-  fear  of . 29 

-  the  thought  of,  is  harder 

to  bear  than  death  itself  .  38 

-  feared  Death  ....  232 

Degrees,  why  there  are  diffe¬ 
rent,  among  men  ....  56 

Deism,  almost  as  far  removed 
from  Christianity  as  atheism  204 
Deluge  is  a  miracle  .  .  .  .  169 

Democritus,  quoted .  ...  21 

Demonstration,  not  the  only 
means  of  persuasion  ...  79 

Demonstrations,  not  certain 
that  there  are  true  .  .  .  no 

De  omni  scibili ,  title  of  a  thesis 
of  Pico  della  Mirandola  .  22 

Desargues,  the  grapes  of  .  .  32 

Descartes  useless  and  uncertain  304 

-  criticism  of  his  opinions 

on  the  machine  .  .  .  .  312 

Despair,  knowledge  of  our 
wretchedness  without  that  of 

God  creates . 93 

Devoutness,  different  to  good¬ 
ness  . 279 

Devil,  the,  foubled  the  zeal 

of  the  Jews . 122 

- what  is  done  by  invoca¬ 
tion  of,  no  miracle  .  .  .  257 

- Jesus  Christ  destroyed 

the  empire  of  the,  over  the 
heart . 269 


INDEX. 


345 


Page 

Dialogues,  the  arrangement  by  253 
Disciples  and  true  disciples, 
difference  between  .  .  .  244 

Discourse,  natural,  inclined  to 
love  him  who  makes  a  .  .  302 
Discourses  on  humility  .  .  76 

Disease,  source  of  error  in 

man . 54 

Disesteem,  the  fear  we  have  of, 

of  others . 44 

Disproportion  of  man  ...  19 

Disputes,  ended  by  miracles  .  267 

Diversion . 33 

-  is  all  that  men  can  do  for 

happiness . 34 

-  why  men  seek  it  .  .  .  34 

-  is  the  greatest  of  our 

miseries . 38 

-  the  search  for,  proves 

that  men  are  not  happy .  .  38 

-  what  is  meant  by  .  .  255 

Diversity,  root  of  ...  .  67 

-  and  uniformity  .  .  .  283 

Divinity,  proof  of,  by  works  of 

nature . 91 

Docility,  too  much,  is  a  vice  as 
natural  as  unbelief  .  .  .  243 

Doctor,  the,  a  character  in  the 

drama . 31 

Doctrine,  a  test  of  miracles  .  257 

-  a  false,  cannot  be  proved 

by  miracles . 264 

Doctrines,  a  multitude  of  .  .  138 

Dogmatists,  their  opinion  on 
natural  principles ....  106 

Donatists,  have  no  miracles  .  261 

Doubt  in  religion  is  agreat  evil  5 
Drama,  life  treated  as  a  .  .  75 

Dream,  life  compared  to  a  .  109 

Duties,  divers,  owed  to  divers 
merits . 68 

Eclipses,  why  it  is  said  they 
presage  misfortune  ...  75 

Egyptians,  their  religion  .  .  119 

-  mean  iniquities  in  the 

Bible . 1 71 

-  their  histories  .  .  .  .  173 

-  their  conversion  foretold 

by  Isaiah . 175 


Elect,  all  things  work  together 
for  good  to  the  .... 
Elijah  and  the  false  prophets 
Eloquence,  continuous,  wearies 
-  definition  of,  to  be  elo¬ 
quent  we  must  study  the 

heart  of  man . 

-  is  painted  thought  .  . 

-  there  are  those  who  speak 

well  and  write  ill . 

Enemies,  what  must  be  under¬ 
stood  by  this  word  in  the 

^  prophecies . 164, 

England,  King  of  ...  . 

Enquirers  and  the  wise  .  . 

Epaminondas  as  an  example  of 
valour  and  humanity 

Epictetus . 72, 

-  his  method  of  writing  . 

Epicureans . 

Epigrams,  a  maker  of  .  .  . 

Equality  of  goods  is  just  . 
Error,  common,  sometimes 
useful  to  calm  the  curiosity 

of  man . 

Escobar . 275, 

Esdras,  the  story  in 

-  discussionon  the  book  of 

Establishment,  greatness  of  . 

Eucharist,  the . 

-  a  type  of  glory 

-  folly  of  not  believing  in 

the,  reason . 

wholly  the  body  of  Jesus 


Page 

129 

267 

39 


301 

301 


O1  G 


170 

75 

242 


226 

312 

92 

81 

67 


Christ 

Eusebius,  quoted  on  Esdras  . 
Evangelists  painted  in  Jesus 
Christ  an  heroic  soul 
Evidence  for  God,  not 


in 


nature 


Evil  is  easy . 

Examples,  those  which  are 
taken  as  proof  are  often 
more  difficult  than  what 
they  are  meant  to  prove 
Exception,  troublesome  to  be 
an,  to  the  rule  .... 
Excuses  sometimes  bad  .  . 

Exorcists,  Jewish,  beaten  by 
devils . 


312 

280 

126 

126 

79 

165 

170 

224 

299 

127 

222 

92 

59 


308 

271 

315 

264 


346 


INDEX. 


Page 

Experience . 26 

Expressions,  false  and  tyranni¬ 
cal,  examples  of  .  .  .  j .  68 

Ezekiel,  spoke  evil  of  Israel, 
like  the  heathens  ....  289 

Faith,  habit  of . 65 

- -  man  without,  cannot 

know  the  true  good  or  jus¬ 


tice  .  .  .  .  95 

—  that  we  must  give  up 

pleasure  in  order  to  gain  .  100 

—  wherein  it  consists  193,  280 

—  is  not  in  our  power  .  .  249 

—  is  a  gift  of  God  .  .  .  250 


- above  the  senses,  but  not 

contrary  to  them  ....  250 

• -  received  at  baptism 

source  of  the  whole  life  of 

the  Christian . 250 

-  embraces  contradictory 

truths,  why . 273 


- Pascal’s 

profession  of  .  235 

Falsehood, 

man 

is  only, 

duplicity, 

and 

contradic- 

tion 

. 

.  .  .  .  76 

Fancy,  called  feeling  by  some  309 

Fascination . 101,165 

Faults,  we  should  recognise 

them . 85 

Fear,  to,  and  not  to  fear  .  .  298 

- a  true,  is  born  of  faith  .  252 

- false,  comes  from  doubt.  252 

Feeble  souls . 289 

Figurative,  that  the  Jewish 

law  was . 167 

Finite,  the,  annihilated  in 


presence  of  the  infinite  .  96 

Flattery,  consequent  on  our 
desire  not  to  know  the  truth  86 
Fly,  enough  to  render  man  in¬ 
capable  of  sound  judgment  2 7 
Fool,  a  man  believes  he  is  a, 
by  dint  of  telling  him  so  .  46 

Forms,  their  value  ...»  280 

Foundation,  supernatural  of  our  286 

- of  our  faith  .  .  .  .  1 1 5 

France . 56 

Francis  Xavier,  Saint  .  .  .  27S 

Frenchman,  the . 80 


Page 

Friend,  important  to  have  a 
true,  and  to  choose  him  well  315 
Friendship  only  exists  by  con¬ 
cealment  of  truth  ....  86 

Frivolity  of  the  world,  little 

known . 41 

Fronde,  injustice  of  the  .  .  07 

Fundamentals,  chapter  on  .  255 

Future,  our  thoughts  occupied 
with  the . 73 

Galilee,  the  word,  pronounced 
by  chance,  caused  the  ac¬ 
complishment  of  a  mystery  218 
Genealogies,  the  two,  of  Jesus 

Christ . 125 

Genealogy  of  Jesus  Christ  in 
Old  Testament  designedly 
mixed  with  others  .  .  .  220 

Gentiles,  their  conversion  fore¬ 
told  by  Jesus  Christ  .  136,  214 

- prophecy  of  Isaiah  on 

conversion  of  ...  147,  148 
— —  conversion  of  the,  reserved 
for  the  grace  of  the  Messiah  .  218 

Gentlemen,  we  never  teach 

men  to  be . 78 

— — ■  universal  quality  to  be  .  79 

Germans,  the . 6 1 

Glory,  the  search  after,  is  a 
mark  of  the  vileness  and  ex¬ 
cellence  of  man  ....  44 

- sweetness  of  ...  .  59 

God,  a,  who  hideth  himself  .  3 

- the  greatest  sensible  mark 

of  the  power  of  ...  .  19 

- unites  in  himself  two  in¬ 
finites  . 22 

- in,  alone  is  our  happi¬ 
ness  . 39 

- - the,  of  the  Christians, 

who  he  is . 92 

- dangers  which  those  run 

who  seek,  apart  from  Jesus 

Christ . 93 

- of  Christians  the  only 

good,  the  only  rest  of  the 
soul  is  in  him  ....  93 

- we  may  well  know',  with¬ 
out  knowing  what  he.  is.  .  97 


INDEX .  347 


Page 

God,  that  there  is  less  risk  in 
wagering  that  there  is  a, 
than  that  there  is  not  .  .  98 

- man  without,  is  in  igno¬ 
rance  and  misery  .  .  .  .  104 

- of  the  philosophers  .  .  ill 

- man  of  himself  cannot 

come  to . 114 

- alone  is  master  of  the 

Jews . 122 

- foresaw  heresies  .  .  .  12S 

- sometimes  spoke  by 

figures . 160 

- the  power  of,  shown  by 

his  conduct  to  J ewish  people  1 6 1 
- idea  of,  that  the  true  re¬ 
ligion  should  present  .  .  179 

-  the  Christian  religion 

commands  that  we  should 
love  and  follow  .  .  .  .  182 

- - that  in  spite  of  our  vile¬ 
ness  it  is  not  incredible  that, 
should  unite  himself  to  us  .  185 

- -  reveals  himself  to,  and 

hides  himself  from  man  .  193 

- - infinite,  without  parrs  .  205 

- if,  is  the  end  he  is  the 

beginning . 206 

- why,  was  hidden  in  his 

first  advent . 207 

- that,  willed  to  hide  him¬ 
self,  and  that  the  religion 
which  says  so  is  true  .  .  208 

- chooses  rather  to  sway 

the  will  than  the  intellect  .  208 

- why,  has  permitted  many 

religions  to  exist  .  .  .  .  212 

-  impossible  and  useless 

to  know,  without  Jesus 

Christ . 226 

- speaks  rightly  of  God  .  227 

- we  must  love,  only  .  .  238 

- we  should  spend  our  life 

either  in  pleasing  or  in  seek¬ 
ing  . 240 

• -  exercises  at  once  his 

mercy  and  his  judgment  to 

the  world . 241 

- has  come  to  bring  war 

among  men . 246 


Page 

God,  what  is  pleasing  to,  is 
usually  displeasing  to  man  .  246 

- forbids  some  things  im¬ 
plicitly,  and  not  explicitly  .  247 

- can  alone  give  faith  to 

Christians . 249 

- knowledge  and  love  of  .  252 

- cannot  lead  men  into 

error  by  miracles  .  .  .  263 

- cannot  favour  a  doctrine 

which  destroys  the  Church  .  269 

-  foretold  the  disorders 

which  the  Church  would. 

undergo . 278 

- heals  those  who  know 

him . 280 

- no  sign  ever  given  by 

Devil  without  a  stronger 
sign  on  the  part  of  .  .  .  286 

- the  heart  is  conscious  of, 

not  the  reason  ....  307 

Good,  almost  unique  ...  59 

- philosopher's  do  not  know 

what  is  the  true  .  .  .  .  18 1 

- and  evil,  meaning  of  the 


words . 192 

Good  birth,  its  advantages  .  68 

Good  breeding . 271 


Good  sense,  argument  against 

scepticism . no 

Gospel,  prophecies  cited  in  the, 

their  use . 133 

- the  kings  of  old  worked 

unconsciously  for  the  glory 


of  the . 147 

—  figures  of  the,  their  appli¬ 
cation  . 160 


•  - all  the,  has  reference  to 

Jesus  Christ . 226 

Grace,  its  action  on  man  .  .  108 

- the  figure  of  glory  .  .  161 

- law,  and  nature  .  .  .  250 

- needed  to  make  a  man  a 

saint . 296 

•  - opposed  to  nature  .  .  296 

Grandeur  to  be  felt  must  be 

abandoned . 40 

Great  men  and  little  have  the 
same  accidents  ....  75 

- are  allied  to  the  people  74 


34§ 


INDEX . 


Page 

Greatness,  infinity  of,  most 
obvious  to  the  senses  .  21 

- - and  littleness  of  man  .  43 

- of  man  consists  in  know¬ 
ing  he  is  miserable  ...  47 

- of  man  even  in  sensuality  69 

- of  the  human  soul  consists 


in  knowing  how  to  keep  the 
mean  ••••••• 

— ■  has  no  lustre  for  those 


76 


Page 

Herod  ....  147,  218,  221 

Hesiod,  the  book  of  .  .  .  121 
Hilary,  Saint  .  .  .  .  127,  278 
History,  all  that  is  not  con¬ 
temporaneous  is  open  to 

suspicion . 174 

Holy  Sacrament,  Catholic  and 
heretical  doctrines  on  .  .  274 

HolyThorn,  the  miracle  of  the  257 
- conclusion  to  be  drawn 


who  seek  understanding 

.  227 

from  the  miracle  of  the  . 

269 

Greece . 

Homer,  quoted . 

120 

Greek  legislators 

.  121 

Homer’s  writings  romances  . 

173 

C 3 reeks  . 

197,  222 

Huguenots,  their  errors  con- 

Grotius . 

.  140 

cerning  the  Pope  .  .  . 

Hunting,  sought  for  the  diver- 

288 

Haggai,  his  prophecy  . 

.  156 

sion  . 

34 

Happiness  of  man,  in  what 

it 

- is  a  royal  sport  .  .  . 

35 

consists 

—  all  men  seek 


49 
95 

—  there  was  once  in  man 

a  true . 95 

— ■  of  man  with  God  ...  89 

common  aim  of  ordinary 


men  and  of  saints,  but  their 
ideals  are  different  .  .  .  244 

Happy,  why  man  cannot  be  .  74 

Hatred  of  self  necessary  .  .  .  238 

- thetrueand  only  virtue  240 

Heart  and  reason,  comparison 
between  actions  of  .  307 

- those  who  judge  by  the, 

do  not  understand  the  pro¬ 
cess  of  reasoning  ....  308 

- the,  we  know  truth  by, 

as  well  as  by  reason  .  .  .  102 

- believes  for  its  own  reasons  307 

Heat,  what  it  is  .  .  .  .  313 

Hebrews,  the,  their  manner  of 

counting . 144 

Heel  of  a  slipper  ....  58 

Hell,  fear  of . 100 

Heresies,  the  source  of  all  .  273 

- tha  way  to  hinder  .  .  274 

- various . 297 

- foreseen  by  God  .  .  .128 

Heresy,  exclusion  of  a  truth  a 

source  of . 274 

Heretics,  the  Jesuits  hinder 
their  conversion  ....  281 


“  I,”  the,  consists  in  my 

thought . 76 

- where  does  it  reside  .  80 

- -  each,  the  enemy  of  all 

others . 84 

Identity  of  number  and  matter  299 
Ignorance,  natural,  is  the 
best  wisdom  of  man 
- of  man . 


Iliad,  the . 

Illusion,  all  men  under  an 
Imaginary  life,  the 
Imagination,  deceptive  power 

of  the . 

-  faculty  of  ... 

-  described  .... 

-  great  complacency  of  the 


active 

enlarges 


little  objects 


and  belittles  the  great 
cords  of 


Immortality  of  the  soul,  im 
portance  to  be  sure  of  this 
Impiety,  ill-bred  people  only 
incapable  of  ... 
Impressions,  old,  man  de 

ceived  by . 

Inability  of  man  to  attain  good 
Incapacity  to  prove  truth  . 
Incarnation,  the,  shows  man 
the  greatness  of  his  misery 


83 

104 

173 

71 

58 

51 

51 

51 

52 

56 

56 

101 

8 

54 

95 

109 

1S8 


INDEX . 


349 


Page 

Incomprehensible,  things  which 

appear  such . 205 

Inconstancy  of  man  ....  26 

- its  causes . 31 

- examples  of  ...  .  79 

Indifference,  unfairness  of  men 
who  live  in,  as  to  the  truth  9 
Indifferent,  the,  in  religion 
not  to  be  despised  ...  8 

Indulgences . 274 

Inequality  is  necessary  among 
men,  but  opens  the  door  to 


tyranny . 68 

Infallibility  would  be  a  strange 

miracle  . . 288 

Infinite,  nothing . 96 

-  ignorant  of  the  nature 

of  the,  and  why  ....  96 

Injustice  of  self-love  .  .  .  239 

-  that  others  should  attach 

themselves  to  us  .  .  .  .  240 

-  letter  on . 254 

Innocents,  Massacre  of  the  .  221 

Inquisition,  the,  and  the  So¬ 
ciety  . 284 

Insensibility  of  man  ...  12 

Instability . 1 01 

Instinct  and  experience  .  .  26 

- we  have  an,  which  raises  us  44 


-  and  reason,  marks  of 

two  natures . 44 

Intellect,  the,  believes  naturally  7  7 

Intelligence,  place  of  human, 
in  the  order  of  intelligible 

things . 22 

Interest,  our  own,  is  a  source 

of  error . 54 

Irenseus,  Saint . 127 

Isaac . 197 

Isaiah,  translation  of  a  pas¬ 
sage  of . 147 

-  translation  of  several 

prophecies  of . 15° 

-  foretold  the  Messiah  .  1 54 

-  foretold  that  miracles 

would  not  be  believed  .  .  258 

Italy . 120,  148 

Jacob . I26 

-  his  death-bed  prophecy  140 


Pagf: 

Jacob  foretold  the  coming  of 


Jesus  Christ . 1 97 

Jaddus . 227 

Jansenists,  and  the  ancient 
saints  .......  275 

-  heretics,  and  Jesuits  .  296 

Jansenius . 268 

Jeremiah,  his  prophecy  con¬ 


cerning  the  reprobation  of 
the  Temple  and  the  sacrifices  149 

-  and  Hananiah  .  .  .  267 

-  explanation  of  a  word  in  270 

Jesuits  and  Jansenists  .  .  .  273 

-  destroy  the  three  notes 

of  religion . 275 

-  are  like  heretics  .  .  .  275 

-  corrupt  the  laws  of  the 

Church . 276 

-  corrupt  religion  .  .  .  277 

-  compared  to  false  pro¬ 
phets  . 27S 

-  their  injustice  and  hypo¬ 
crisy  . 278 

-  their  hardness  greater 

than  that  of  the  Jews  .  .  279 

-  vanity  of  the  ....  280 

-  in  corrupting  their  judges 

they  make  them  unjust  .  .  282 

-  given  up  to  the  spirit  of 

lying . 282 

- ;  exaggerated  notion  they 

have  of  their  importance  .  285 

-  it  is  good  that  their 

deeds  should  be  unjust  .  .  287 

-  their  lax  opinions  dis¬ 
pleasing  because  they  have 
exceeded  all  bounds  .  .  .  290 

-  duplicity  of  the  .  .  .  292 

-  have  abandoned  the  old 

rules  and  follow  reason, 
compared  to  the  unbelieving 


Jews . 292 

Jesus  Christ,  redemption  by, 
one  of  the  fundamentals  of 

religion .  6 

-  apart  from,  man  has  no 

communion  with  God  .  .  91 

-  the  goal  of  all,  and  the 

centre  to  which  all  tends  .  92 

-  knowledge  of  ...  .  93 


35° 


INDEX. 


Page 

Jesus  Christ,  difference  be¬ 
tween,  and  Mahomet  .  .  116 

- -  no  man  can  do  what,  did  1 16 

- -  foretold  by  the  Jewish 

people . 122 

- -  used  the  order  of  charity, 

not  of  the  intellect  .  .  .  12S 

- -  foretold  and  announced 

by  prophecies . 131 

-  small  in  his  beginnings  .  136 

-  betrayed . 140 

• -  foretold  as  to  the  time 

and  the  state  of  the  world  .  147 

-  has  given  us  the  inter¬ 
pretation  of  the  Old  Testa¬ 
ment  cipher . 159 

-  prefigured  by  Joseph  .  164 

-  in,  all  dissonances  of 

Scripture  are  brought  to 

harmony . 167 

-  according  to  carnal 

Christians . 172 

-  announced  by  Adam  .  1 74 

-  proofs  of  the  divinity  of  213 

-  came  with  all  the  cir¬ 
cumstances  foretold  .  .  .  213 

-  no  man  has  had  so  great 

renown,  none  enjoyed  it  less  214 

-  all  the  glory  of,  for  our 

sakes,  to  enable  us  to  re¬ 
cognise  him  . 214 

-  the  office  of  ....  214 

-  foretold  and  foreteller  .  215 

-  why,  did  not  come  in  a 


visible  manner,  why  in  figures  216 

—  has  come  to  sanctify  and 

to  blind . 216 

—  we  can  have  nothing  but 

veneration  for . 216 

— ■  special  prophecies  re¬ 
garding  . 217 


—  is  the  more  to  be  loved 

in  not  having  done  as  the 
rabbis  said  .  .  .  ,  .  .  219 

—  not  known  by  contem¬ 
porary  writers . 221 

—  clearness  and  simplicity 

of  the  language  of  222 

—  why,  was  weak  in  his 

agony . 222 


Jesus  Christ,  centre  of  the  two 

Testaments . 

- has  made  known  to  men 

their  misery,  and  given  the 
remedy . 

•  -  greatness  and  lowliness  of 

-  for  all  .  .  *  .  .  . 

- -  compared  to  Moses  .  . 

-  the  redeemer  of  all  . 

-  would  not  have  the  testi¬ 
mony  of  devils  .... 

-  why  he  would  be  put  to 

death  with  the  forms  of  justice 

-  leaves  the  wicked  in  their 

blindness . 

-  alone  in  his  agony  . 

— —  only  once  complained  . 

■ -  considered  in  all  persons 

and  in  ourselves  .... 

-  how,  gives  himself  in 

communion . 

-  words  of,  to  man 

-  has  adopted  our  sins,  and 

admitted  us  into  covenant 
with  him . 

*  -  worked  miracles  as  wit¬ 

nesses  of  the  prophecies 
-  has  verified  by  his  mira¬ 
cles  that  he  was  the  Messiah 

-  without  the  miracles  not 

blameworthy  not  to  believe 

in . .  . 

-  the  two  natures  of,  source 

of  contradictions  .... 
— - —  all  faith  consists  in,  and 

in  Adam . 

-  came  to  bring  war  . 

-  a  stone  of  stumbling 

-  never  condemned  with¬ 
out  a  hearing . 

-  appeal  to  his  tribunal 

from  that  of  the  Pope  .  . 

-  did  not  die  for  all,  heresy 

of . 

Jews,  their  situation  in  the 
midst  of  the  world  .  .  . 

-  their  expectation  of  a 

Redeemer . 

-  the  most  ancient  nation 

known  to  men  .... 


Page 

226 


226 

228 

229 

229 

230 

230 

230 

230 

231 
231 

234 

234 

235 

247 

261 

262 


270 

273 

280 

281 
283 

283 

284 
296 

1 19 

120 
120 


INDEX. 


351 


Page 

Jews,  sprung  from  one  manonly  120 

- declared  that  all  the  world 

is  in  error . 121 

-  were  slaves  of  sin  .  .  122 

-  their  dispersion,  bore  the 

prophecies  into  all  regions 

of  the  world . 13 1 

-  were  a  carnal  people  .  1 62 

-  their  religion  the  true  .  162 

-  the  prophecies  interpre¬ 
ted  by  the,  according  to  their 
carnal  instincts  .  .  .  .  163 

-  their  refusal  of  Christ 

has  given  an  additional  mark 

of  him . 164 

-  theirexplanationofScrip- 

ture  defective . 167 

-  type  of  the  chosen  people  169 

-  loved  the  shadow  and 

misunderstood  the  substance  170 
- hold  a  midway  place  be¬ 
tween  Christians  and  pagans  1 72 

-  two  kinds  of  .  .  .  .  172 

-  antiquity  of  the  .  .  .  173 

-  sincerity  of  the,  proved 

by  the  care  with  which  they 
preserved  the  Bible  .  .  .  1 73 

- formed  to  serve  as  wit¬ 
nesses  of  the  Messiah  .  .  174 

-  prove  Christianity  by 

their  present  condition  .  .  19 1 

-  the  religion  of  the  true,  is 

the  same  as  that  of  Christians  1 98 
-  in  slaying  Messiah  af¬ 
forded  a  final  proof  of  him  .  218 

- their  perpetuity  and  miser¬ 
able  state  prove  Jesus  Christ  219 

- their  second  destruction 

will  never  end  ....  220 

- bound  to  believe  the 


miracles  of  Jesus  Christ  .  263 

-  the  hardness  of  the 

Jesuits  surpasses  that  of  the  279 
Job  knew  the  misery  of  man  .  45 

-  the  book  of,  regards 

Jesus  Christ  as  centre  and 

object . 213 

John  Baptist,  Saint  .  140,  230 

-  and  Jesus  Christ  .  .  .  201 

Jonah,  a  sign  of  the  resurrection  2  66 


Joseph,  son  of  Jacob,  ordered 
that  he  should  not  be  buried 

in  Egypt . 

Josephus  on  the  Jewish  law  . 
Joshua,  the  first  of  God’s 
people  who  had  this  name  . 
Judas,  Jesus  did  not  regard  in, 

his  enmity . 

Judge,  authority  of  the 
Judgment,  instability  of  the  . 
-  confusion  of  the  judg¬ 
ment  of  man . 

- and  the  intellect  . 

Justice,  what  is  the  essence  of 

-  what  is . 

-  of  God . 

-  influenced  by  imagina¬ 
tion  and  the  passions 

-  and  truth,  man  cannot 

attain  them . 

-  man  is  ignorant  of  . 

-  changes  with  the  climate 

-  human  is  not  the  true 

justice . 

-  is  what  is  established  . 

-  the  false,  of  Pilate  .  . 

-  of  God,  which  abases  the 

pride  of  man . 

Just  man,  takes  for  himself 
nothing  of  the  world  .  . 

- compared  to  Abraham  . 

-  acts  by  t faith  in  the 

smallest  things  .... 
-  takes  part  only  in  un¬ 
pleasant  things  .... 

King  without  diversion  is  full 

of  miseries . 

-  man  a  discrowned  . 

-  whence  comes  the  respect 

paid  a . 

-  on  what  the  power  of  a, 

is  based . 

- and  tyrant . 

-  what  is  the  happiness  of  a 

Kingships,  duchies,  and  magis¬ 
tracies  real  and  necessary  . 
Knowledge  of  God  our  only 

good . . 

-  intuitive,  where  it  leads  us 


Page 


141 

120 


213 

232 

65 

27 


O- 

307 

62 

67 

96 

53 

54 

61 

61 

62 
64 

234 

241 

244 

244 

2-14 

244 


40 

47 

55 

55 

72 

34 

76 

96 

19 


352 


INDEX. 


Page 


Knowledge,  we  should  have  of 

ourselves . ioi 

Koran,  foundation  of  the 

Mahomedan  religion  .  .  1 1 5 

-  and  St.  Matthew  .  .  116 

Lacedtemon . 120 

Lacedemonians . 238 

Lamech . 126,  197 

Language,  examples  of  too 

careful . 304 

Latins . 197 

Latitude,  three  degrees  of .  .  61 


Law,  instance  in  which  the, 
was  justly  violated  .  .  .  297 

-  of  the  Jews,  served  as 

model  for  the  best  laws  of 

antiquity . 121 

- severe  and  rigorous 

as  to  religious  worship  .  .  12 1 

- is  figurative  .  .  167 

• -  Christian,  foretold  by 

the  prophets . 135 

-  and  grace . 250 

-  and  nature . 250 

Laws,  natural,  there  is  not  a 
isngle  universal  ....  61 

-  why  we  follow  ancient  .  67 

Lessius . 291 

Letters,  arrangement  by  .  .  253 

Liancourt,  the  frog  and  the 
pike  of  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  313 

Liars,  some  are,  simply  for 

lying’s  sake . 77 

Life,  the  frailest  thing  in  the 

world . 12 

-  its  short  duration  .  .  28 

-  the  last  act  of .  .  .  .  75 

-  a  perpetual  illusion  .  .  86 

-  compared  to  a  dream  .  105 

-  religious,  both  easy  and 

difficult . 248 

Lingende,  Father  ....  267 

Littleness  of  man,  what  we  call 
nature  in  animals  is  .  .  47 

Logicians . 65 

Love,  why  it  changes  its  object  32 

-  shows  the  frivolity  of  man  60 

-  representation  of,  at  the 

theatre  .......  248 


Page 

Love,  source  of  faith  .  .  .  289 
Lust,  threefold  division  of .  .  243 

-  the  three  kinds  of,  have 

made  three  sects  .  .  .  .  1 1 3 
I. lists,  compared  to  three  rivers  243 
Lute,  to  be  skilled  in  playing 


the . 72 

Machine,  letter  which  shows 
the  use  of  proofs  by  the  .  254 

-  of  Descartes  ;  defects  of 

this  hypothesis  .  .  .  .  312 

-  the  calculating,  com¬ 
pared  to  animals  .  .  .  .  313 

Macrobius . 221 

Mad,  men  are  of  necessity  .  78 

Magistrate,  taken  as  an  ex¬ 
ample  of  influence  of  im¬ 
agination  . 52 

-  the  pomp  with  which 

they  are  surrounded  ...  53 

Mahomet,  the  soldiers  of  .  .  65 

-  thoughts  on  .  .  .  .  1 1 5 

-  foundation  of  his  religion  115 

-  difference  between  J  esus 

Christ  and . 116 

• -  forbade  reading  .  .  .  116 

-  renders  testimony  to 

himself . 116 

-  his  doctrine  is  ridiculous  117 

-  religion  of . 1 19 

Maimonides,  Moses  .  .  .  157 

Malchus . 235 

Man,  his  ignorance  ....  5 

— —  his  destiny .  6 

-  unfairness  of,  in  living 

indifferent  to  Religion  .  .  9 

-  blindness  of  ...  12 

-  worthlessness  of  .  .  .  13 

■ -  comparison  between,  and 

nature  .  ....  19 

-  presumption  of,  in  wish¬ 
ing  to  know  nature  ...  21 

-  thinks  he  is  able  to  com¬ 
prehend  the  infinitely  little  .  22 

-  must  not  look  for  cer¬ 
tainty  or  stability  ...  23 

-  in  order  to  know  himself 

should  know  all  that  is  in 
relation  to  him  ....  24 


INDEX 


353 


Page 

Man,  the  two  natures  of,  bodily 
and  spiritual,  excludes  us 
from  the  knowledge  of  nature  24 

-  stamps  with  his  complex 

being  all  simple  things  .  .  25 

-  twofold  manner  of  con¬ 
sidering  the  nature  of  .  .  26 

-  nature  has  placed,  in  the 

centre  of  things  ....  26 

-  all  is  fatal  to,  even  those 

things  made  to  serve  him  .  31 

-  whence  comes  his  happi¬ 


ness  . 33 

—  is  surrounded  with  all 
that  may  divert  him  ...  37 


—  cannot  think  of  two 

things  at  once . 38 

—  seeks  diversion  as  a  re¬ 


medy  for  his  evils  ...  39 

-  knows  not  in  what  rank 

to  place  himself  ....  43 

-  cannot  bear  to  be  de- 

pised . 42 

- vileness  of,  in  that  he 

submits  himself  to  the  brates  44 

-  neither  angel  nor  brute  .  45 

-  should  know  his  great¬ 
ness  and  his  vileness,  but 
not  one  without  the  other  .  45 


-  is  only  happy  in  God, 

yet  is  contrary  to  God  .  .  45 

-  is  only  a  reed,  but  a  reed 

which  thinks . 46 

-  has  fallen  from  a  better 


nature . 47 

—  whole  dignity  of,  lies  in 

thought . 48 

—  what  he  should  desire  .  48 

—  is  ignorant  of  true  justice  61 


- is  incapable  of  truth  and 

of  goodness . 66 

-  is  full  of  wants,  and  cares 

only  for  those  who  can 

satisfy  them . 75 

-  the  honourable  ...  75 

-  is  not  a  necessary  being  76 

-  automatic  as  well  as 

intellectual . 77 

-  only  disguise,  falsehood, 

and  hypocrisy . 87 


Page 

Man,  his  defects  and  his  in¬ 
capacity . 106 

- that  he  has  fallen  from  his 

former  state . 108 

-  is  full  of  matters  which 

take  him  out  of  self  .  .  .  113 

-  ordinary  life  of,  like  that 

of  the  saints  .  .  .  .  .  561 

-  can  be  happy  only  in 

loving  God  and  in  union 

with  him . 179 

-  moral  diseases  of .  .  .  18 1 

-  isolation,  blindness,  and 

misery  of . 183 

-  double  nature  of  .  .  .  185 

-  should  know  his  defects, 

and  esteem  that  religion 
which  promises  precious 

remedies . .  185 

-  should  conform  his  senti¬ 
ments  to  religion  ....  186 

-  his  two  states  of  grace 

and  corruption  proved  from 

Scripture . 191 

-  his  dignity  while  inno¬ 
cent  and  now . 194 

-  without  Jesus  Christ  is 

in  vice  and  misery  .  .  .  226 

-  before  Jesus  Christ  knew 

nothing  of  himself  .  .  .  22-6 

- is  not  worthy  of  God, 

but  not  incapable  of  being 
rendered  worthy  ....  227 

- often  mistakes  his  imagi¬ 
nation  for  his  heart  .  .  .  308 

- cannot  understand  certain 

effects  of  nature  .  .  .  .  313 

Martial . 81 

Marton . 192 

Martyrs,  why  the  example  of 
their  deaths  touches  us  .  .  238 

Masorah,  the .  ...  .  .  123 

Mathematics  and  the  practical 

mind . 310 

Matter  cannot  know  itself .  .  24 

Mediator,  God  cannot  be 
known  without  a .  .  .  .  92 

- without  a,  there  can  be 

no  communion  between  God 
and  man . 245 


A  A 


354 


INDEX . 


Page 

Mediocrity,  nothing  good  but  76 
Mem,  discussion  on  the  subject  166 
Members,  relation  of  the,  to 

the  body  ......  237 

- the  body  formed  of  think¬ 
ing  . 237 

- must  have  the  same  will 

as  the  body . 239 

Memory  is  necessary  for  every 
operation  of  the  reason  .  .  309 

Men,  naturally  hate  each  other  7° 

- epigram  upon  one-eyed .  81 

Mercy  of  God,  its  greatness  .  208 

- calls  to  repentance  .  .  241 

- why  we  implore  .  .  .  241 

Merit,  man’s  judgment  of  .  .  192 

- an  ambiguous  word  .  .  297 

Messiah,  that  the,  should 
mould  a  new  people  by  his 

spirit . 122 

- effect  and  tokens  of  the 

coming  of  the . 135 

- that  the,  would  convert 

the  Gentiles  and  cast  down 

all  idols . 

- what  the  rabbis  expected 

ofhim . .  1 57 

- that,  would  deliver  his 

people  from  their  enemies, 
what  this  means  ....  17° 

- the  carnal  Jews’  under¬ 
standing  as  to  the  .  .  •  I72 

- actual  state  of  the  Jews 

proves  Jesus  Christ  the  true  19 1 
Mexico,  the  historians  of  .  .  118 

Millenarians,  their  extrava¬ 
gances  . !66 

Mind  and  body,  union  of,  a 
mystery  to  man  ....  25 

Mind,  infinite  distance  between 

body  and . 227 

Mine,  thine . 68 

Miracles,  in  general  .  .  .  257 

- all  belief  rests  on  .  .  .  17 1 

- strengthen  faith  .  .  .  210 

- not  needed  to  prove  that 

we  must  love  God  .  .  .  241 

- the  importance  of,  rules 

to  recognise  them  .  .  .  257 

- are  the  test  of  doctrine  .  257 


Page 

Miracles,  unbelief  in,  foretold  258 

- that  the  existence  of  falser 

proves  that  there  are  true  .  259 

-  Jesus  Christ  verified  that 

he  was  the  Messiah  by  his  .  262 

- of  Jesus  Christ  and  the 

apostles  prove  that  the 
prophecies  are  accomplished  262 

- never  wrought  in  favour 

of  error . _  •  263 

- when  we  are  justified  in 

excluding  certain  ....  265 

- are  the  test  in  doubtful 

matters . 266 

• - against  miracle  .  .  .  266 

- - of  Port  Royal  prove  the 

innocency  of  that  house  .  .  279 

- not  much  to  be  feared 

among  schismatics  .  .  .  286 

Misery  of  man  without  God  .  15 

- man  is  only  happy  in  not 

thinking  of  his  ....  38 

- diversion  is  our  greatest .  38 

Mites,  taken  as  an  example  .  20 

Miton . 12,  84 

Molina . 276,  291 

Monks,  their  position  in  the 
world  foolish . 282 


Monster,  man  is  an  incompre¬ 
hensible  . 46 

Montaigne,  his  defects  and 

qualities . 17 

- his  opinion  on  custom  .  64 


- for  and  against  miracles  258 

Morality,  in  what  it  consists  .  193 

- of  the  judgment  and  of 

the  intellect . 307 

Morals,  science  of  ...  .  82 

- Jesuits  judge  of  their  faith 

by  their . 290 

- a  special  but  universal 

science . 292 

Moses  commanded  every  one 
to  read  his  books  .  .  .  .  1 1 5 

- a  man  of  genius  .  .  .  125 

- the  proof  of  the  truth  of.  125 

- foretold  the  calling  of  the 

Gentiles  and  the  reproba¬ 
tion  of  the  Jews  ....  140 

- his  teaching  ....  140 


INDEX. 


355 


Moses,  his  declarations  against 

the  Jews . 

- his  mystical  sense  of  the 

Creation . 

-  compared  with  Jesus 

Christ . 

-  his  rules  for  judging 

miracles . 

Motion,  our  nature  exists  by  . 


Page 

173 

174 
229 

257 

73 


Natural  principles  are  but 
principles  of  custom  .  .  . 

Nature  offers  nothing  but  mat¬ 
ter  for  doubt  and  disquiet  . 

-  comparison  between 

Scriptures  and  .... 

-  is  an  image  of  grace .  . 

- -  perfections  and  defects  of 

- canonical  writers  have 

never  employed,  to  prove 

God . 

- -  law,  and  grace  .  .  . 

— —  use  of  bad  reasons  for 
proving  effects  of .  .  .  . 

-  the  feelings  and  language 

of  atheists  contrary  to  .  . 

-  man  should  consider, 

seriously  and  at  leisure  .  . 

-  majesty  and  greatness  of 

- greatness  in  the  infinitely 

little . 

-  has  her  double  infinity 

from  author  of  .... 

-  immobility  of,  compared 

to  us .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 

-  reasons  why  man  cannot 

know . 

-  of  man  a  continual  change 

-  is  not  always  subject  to 

her  own  rules . 

-  imitates  herself  .  .  . 

Nebuchadnezzar,  dream  of  . 
Nicodemus  recognised  Jesus 
Christ  by  his  miracles  . 

-  the  answer  of,  to  the 

Pharisees . 

Ninevites,  repentance  of  .  . 

Noah,  witness  of  the  Messiah 


64 

104 

128 

161 

192 


2015 

250 

309 

6 


19 

19 

20 


21 


24 

25 
63 

83 

83 

141 

262 

270 

241 

169 


Office  of  Jesus  Christ  .  .  .  214 
Offices,  why  men  seek  them  33,  34 


Old  Testament,  a  cipher  .  . 

Opinion,  queen  of  the  world  . 
Opinions  of  the  people  sound  . 
Organs,  men  compared  to .  . 

Order,  against  the  objection 
that  the  Scripture  has  no  . 

-  ofcharityandtheintellect 

Outward  marks,  men  distin¬ 
guished  by  them  .... 

Pain,  not  shameful  to  man  to 

yield  to . 

Painting,  foolishness  of  .  . 

Parrot,  as  an  example  .  .  . 

Parties,  we  should  hear  both  . 
Passions,  their  influence  on 
man  .... 

-  the  pleasure  of,  in  seeing 

the  shock  of  two  contraries 

-  of  the  soul  trouble  the 

senses  . 

• -  internecine  war  between 

reason  and  the  .... 

-  the  enemies  of  man  .  . 

-  how  they  become  vices  . 

Pattern,  good  and  bad  .  .  . 

Paul,  Saint,  used  the  order  of 
charity,  not  of  the  intellect 

-  taught  that  all  things  had 

happened  in  figures  .  .  . 

- explanation  of  Old  Testa¬ 
ment.  types  by . 

-  his  opinions  on  marriage 

Paulus  Emilius,  an  example  . 
Peace,  the  sovereign  good, 
result  of  coalescence  of  jus¬ 
tice  and  power  .... 

-  should  not  be  observed 

to  the  prejudice  of  truth 
- -  in  the  Church,  when  per¬ 
nicious  and  unjust  .  .  . 

Pelagians  and  Catholics  will 

always  exist . 

Penances,  exterior  and  interior 
-  exterior,  dispose  to  in¬ 
terior  . 

People,  most,  follow  custom 
because  they  think  it  just  . 

-  dangerous  to.  say  to,  that 

laws  are  not  just  .... 


Page 

11 7 

54 

70 

26 

128 

128 

70 


30 
3H 

31 
283 

3i 

39 

5i 

55 

169 

244 

302 

128 

169 

176 

176 

47 


67 

279 

281 

296 

134 

134 

64 

65 


3.0 


INDEX . 


Page 

People  have  very  sound  opin¬ 
ions  .  •  7° 

Perpetuity  of  the  worship  of 

the  Messiah . 21 3 

-  of  the  Jewish  law  pre¬ 
served  by  Jesus  Christ  .  •  213 

Perseus,  King  of  Macedon  .  47 

Persians,  the  .  .  •  •  •  /  ^ 1 

Persons,  three  kinds  of,  in 

religion . I°I 

Pharaoh,  magicians  of .  .  •  2°7 

Philosophers,  they  speak  of 
material  things  in  spiritual 
phrase- and  vice  versd  .  •  25 

-  do  not  know  our  nature 

when  they  blame  the  search 

after  diversion . 34 

-  falsity  of  those,  who  do 

not  discuss  the  immortality 

of  the  soul . 111 

- -  against  those,  who  be¬ 
lieve  in  God  without  Jesus 

Christ . *** 

- -  their  weakness  .  .179,100 

- -  have  consecrated  vices  .  189 

Philosophy,  human,  incapable 

of  explaining  man  .  .  •  106 

Pictures,  rules  for  perspective  27 
Piety,  differs  from  superstition  251 

Plato . 254 

Play,  why  sought  after  .  .  33 

• - remarks  on  •  35 


Pleasure,  shameful  to  man  to 

yield  to . 

Poet,  the  trade  of  a  ... 
Poland,  the  king  of  ... 
Portentum ,  meaning  of  the 

word . 

Pompey  .••••;• 
Pope,  whence  he  has  his  light 

- his  power  in  the  Church 

to  be  considered  in  two  ways 
- may  easily  be  taken  un¬ 
awares  by  the  Jesuits  .  . 

Porphyry . 

Port  Royal,  children  of  .  . 

- bad  policy  to  dissolve  the 

community  of  .... 
Power,  tyrant  of  the  world  . 
- creates  opinion  .  » 


30 

79 

75 

270 

147 

276 

288 

28S 

116 

58 

284 

55 

56 


Page 

Power,  without  justice  is  tyran¬ 
nical  .  .  •  •  •  •  •  ’ 

- why  above  justice  .  .  67 

- result  of  .....  69 

Practical  and  mathematical 
mind,  difference  between  .  310 

Prayer,  why  God  has  esta¬ 
blished  . 29  7 

Preacher,  the  .  •  •  •  •  I04 

Preadamites,  their  extrava¬ 
gances  ...•••• 
Present,  we  care  nothing  for  the  73 

President,  first . 69 

Presumption  of  man  ...  59 

- joined  to  insignificance  .  67 

Pride,  a  counterpoise  to  all 

miseries . 

- makes  us  wish  to  be  es¬ 
teemed  . 0 

- knowledge  of  God  with¬ 
out  that  of  our  wretchedness 

creates . #  •  92 

- finds  its  proper  place  in 

wisdom  . 242 

Primogeniture . 63 

- absurdity  of  ...  •  254 

Principles,  all,  may  pass  for 
false  impressions  ....  54 

- our  natural,  are  but  prin¬ 
ciples  of  custom  .  .  .  •  •  64 

- first,  are  known  by  the  heart  102 

- arguments  of  the  sceptics 

in  truth  of  some  .  •  •  I05 

- all  the,  of  sceptics,  stoics, 

atheists,  are  true,  but  their 
conclusions  are  false  .  .  111 

Prison,  why  so  horrible  a 
punishment  ...._•  34 

Probability  of  the  Jesuits,  in¬ 
fluence  of  the  doctrine  of  .  2S3 

- incapable  of  assuring  the 

conscience . 29° 

- corruptness  of  thedoctrine  290 

Progress,  all  that  is  brought  to 
perfection  by,  perishes  also 

by  it . 57 

- nature  works  by  .  .  .  04 

Promises  of  God  in  the  Old 
Testament,  each  finds  in 
them  what  he  most  desires  .  102 


INDEX. 


357 


Page 

Proofs,  metaphysical,  of  God  92 

-  of  our  religion  not 

absolutely  convincing,  but 
reasonable  enough  for  those 
who  wish  to  believe  .  .  .  20S 

Prophecies,  the  strongest  proof 
of  Jesus  Christ  ....  131 

-  dispersed  with  the  Jews 

throughout  the  world  .  .  131 

-  their  preservation  and 

agreement . 13 1 

-  concerning  Messiah  .  .  132 

- unintelligible  to  the  wicked  133 


- understood  only  when 

the  events  occur  ....  133 

- accomplished  .  .  .  140 

- a  proof  of  divinity  .  .  150 

- - two  senses  of  .  .  .  .  157 

- confirmed  by  miracles  .  1 7 1 

- special,  of  Jesus  Christ  .  217 

Prophecy  is  not  called  miracle  262 
Prophets,  their  part  among  the 

Jews . 123 

- their  words  had  a  double 

sense . 132 


- prophesied  by  figures  .  158 

- their  discourses  were  con¬ 
tradictory  . 158 

- foretold  the  Cln'istians  .  201 

- what  they  say  of  Jesus 

Christ . 209 

- declared  the  advent  of 

Messiah . 2 13 

- foretold,  and  were  not 

foretold . 215 

Propositions,  the  five  .  .  .  268 


Provence . 57 

Provincial  Letters,  censures  of 
the,  not  founded  on  tradition  284 

Pyrenees . 61 

Pyrrhus . 35 


Rabbinism,  chronology  of, 
cited  from  the  Pugio  Fidei .  195 

Rabbis,  proofs  given  to  the 
Scriptures  as  to  Jesus  Christ 

by  the . 1 57 

- figures  they  employ  .  .  1 70 

- their  doctrines  on  original 

sin . 194 


Page 

Rabbis,  their  objections  against 

Jesus  Christ . 219 

Reason,  is  the  essence  of  man  43 

- the  senses  deceive  the  .  5 1 

- yields  to  imagination  .  53 

-  internecine  war  between 

the  passions  and  ....  55 

-  not  a  guide  to  first 

principles . i.C2 

- is  weak,  but  would  judge 

of  all  things . I/03 

- civil  war  between  passion 

and . 1 13 

- its  corruption  .  .  .  185 

- can  truly  know  ourselves 

by  submission  of  our  .  .  210 

- acts  slowly  ....  307 

- its  power  over  us  .  .  309 

Reasoning,  all  our,  reduced  to 
yielding  to  feeling  .  .  .  309 

Redeemer,  a,  onlyfor  Christians  242 

- Christian  religion  consists 

in  the  mystery  of  the  .  .  204 

Redemption,  proofs  of  the, 
drawn  from  the  wicked  and 

the  Jews . 193 

- not  right  that  all  should  see  255 

Red  Sea,  an  image  of  the  Re¬ 
demption  . 1 61 

Reed,  a  thinking  ....  46 

Religion,  the  true,  and  its 
characteristics  .  .  .  .  179 

- explains  the  contradic¬ 
tions  in  man . 179 

- must  show  knowledge  of 


our  nature . 182 

—  the  note  of  true  .  .  .  182 

—  false  proves  that  there  is 

a  true . 260 


—  need  to  learn  the  Chris¬ 
tian,  before  assailing  it  .  .  3 

— makes  us  know  deeply  the 
greatness  and  the  baseness 

of  man . 43 

—  what  it  is . 97 

— ■  is  not  certain  .  .  .  .  102 
— -  more  enforced  by  feel¬ 
ing  than  by  reason  .  .  .  103 

—  founded  on  the  Jewish 
religion 


119 


358 


INDEX. 


Page 

Religion,  divine  or  ridiculous  .  172 

■ -  excellence  of  the  Chris¬ 
tian  . 183 

- others  but  the  Christian, 

false  .  •  •  •  »  • .  •  183 

- wise  and  foolish  .  .  .  187 

. - other  than  Christian, 

equal  man  sometimes  to 
God  and  sometimes  to  the 

brutes . 188 

- - perpetuity  of  the  Christian  197 

- - which  has  always  existed 

is  that  which  is  contrary  to 

nature . 198 

- - we  should  look  to  the 

details  of . 212 

- two  ways  of  urging  the 

truth  of  our . 251 

- at  once  venerable  and 

lovable  . 254 

-  miracle  the  foundation  of  258 

- the  three  notes  of  .  .  275 

-  Jewish,  to  be  diffe¬ 
rently  regarded  in  tradition 
of  its  sacred  books  and  in 
the  tradition  of  the  people  .  1 1 5 

-  is  the  figure  of  the  Mes¬ 
siah  . 176 

-  Mahomedan,  its  founda¬ 
tion  . 1 1 5 

-  heathen,  no  foundation .  1 1 5 

Religions,  pagan,  have  no 
marks  of  truth  .  .  .  .  119 

Religious,  that  there  are  some 
lax,  this  proves  nothing 
against  religion  ....  277 

Repose,  men  think  they  seek, 
but  only  seek  agitation  .  .  34 

Reprobate,  all  things  work  for 

evil  for  the . 1 29 

Republic,  Christian  and  Jew¬ 
ish,  have  only  had  God  for 

master . 122 

- - its  laws  ....  241 

Respect  of  men  for  each  other  55 

• - what  it  is  for  ....  72 

Rest,  secret  instinct  which 
leads  men  to  seek  ...  35 

. -  complete,  is  insupport¬ 
able,  why . 40 


Page 

Righteous  man,  the  two  natures 

in  the . 273 

Rivers  are  moving  roads  .  .  315 

Roannez,  M.  de . 309 

Roman  legislators  .  .  .  .  12 1 

Romans,  religion  of  the  .  .  119 

Rome  began  to  fear  Cromwell  j6 

-  chief  church  of  Christ  .  136 

- -  must  not  stifle  speech  .  284 

Royalty,  without  diversion, 

is  unhappy . 33 

Rule,  to  judge  aworkweneed  a  305 

-  special  and  particular  .  308 

-  man  must  have  a,  of  faith  309 

Ruth,  book  of . 220 


Sabbath,  only  a  sign  .  .  .  175 

Sacrifices,  exterior,  not  essen¬ 
tial  . 138 

- -  of  the  Jews  and  Gentiles  140 

-  uselessness  of  the  .  .  175 

Saints,  foretold,  but  not  fore¬ 
tellers  . 215 

-  their  greatness  and  their 

empire . 227 

-  their  union  ....  279 


Salomon  de  Tultie,  pseudonym 
of  Pascal,  utility  of  his  man¬ 
ner  of  writing . 312 

Salvation,  Jesus  Christ  has 
wrought  the,  of  the  just, 
while  they  slept  ....  232 

Savages . 7° 

Scaramouch,  as  an  example  .  31 

Sceptic,  never  has  been  a  per¬ 
fect  finished . 106 

Sceptical  cabal . Ill 

Scepticism,  its  reasonings  .  .  108 

-  aids  religion  .  .  .  .  1 13 

-  remedy  for  vanity  .  .  206 

-  is  true,  for  men  before 

Jesus  Christ  knew  nothing .  226 

Sceptics,  indifference  of  the  .  112 

-  labour  in  vain  .  .  .  103 

-  principal  arguments  of 

the,  drawn  from  the  uncer¬ 
tainty  of  our  natural  prin¬ 
ciples  . . 105 

-  lesser  arguments  of  the  .  106 

Schism,  a  mark  of  error  .  .  268 


INDEX . 


359 


Science,  infinite  in  its  research 
and  its  premisses  ....  21 

- abstract,  not  fit  for  man  82 

Scripture,  knows  God  better 

than  we . 91 

-  compared  to  the  Koran, 

difference  between  the  books  1 1 6 

- has  provided  passages  for 

all  conditions  of  life  .  .  .  128 

-  why  contrary  sentences 

are  found  in . 128 

-  obscure  and  clear  .  .  129 

- -  has  two  senses  .  .  .  157 

-  against  those  who  misuse 

passages  of . 16 6 

■ -  manner  of  understanding 

that  contradictory  passages 
of,  must  agree . 167 


— •  superiority  of,  over  the 
most  ancient  books  of  other 

peoples . 173 

—  preserved  by  the  Jews, 
and  is  a  witness  of  their 
sincerity . 1 73 


-  full  of  matters  not  dicta¬ 
ted  by  the  Holy  Spirit  .  .  206 

-  without  the,  we  know 

nothing  of  the  nature  of  God 
nor  our  own  nature  .  .  .  226 

Self,  hatred  of,  necessary  .  .  238 

-  is  hateful . 84 

Self-love,  its  nature  ...  84 

• - -  how  it  should  be  regu¬ 


lated  . 237 

• -  source  of  all  confusion  .  239 

Seneca,  quotations  from  .  .  no 

Sensation,  no  misery  apart 

from . 47 

Sense  of  the  prophecies  always 

the  same . 171 

-  there  are  various  kinds 

of  good . 3 1 1 

Senses  deceive  the  reason  .  .  51 

Sensuality,  men  have  drawn 

rules  from . 69 

- manner  in  which  it  is  used  70 

Sepulchre  of  Jesus  Christ  .  .  234 

Sermon,  how  some  people 

listen  to  the . 316 

Servant,  relation  to  his  master  293 


Page 

Shem . 126,  169 

Ship,  as  an  example  ...  63 

Sibyls,  books  of  the  .  .  .  174 

Sickness,  resignation  of  man 

in  time  of . 74 

Silence  is  the  greatest  perse- 

^  cution . 283 

Simplicity  of  things  compared 
to  our  double  and  complex 

nature . 25 

Sin,  all  is,  that  is  repugnant  to 
the  will  of  God  ....  247 

-  original . 192 

- mystery  of  the  transmis¬ 
sion  of . 107 

-  foolishness  of  original, 

to  man . 192 

-  tradition  of  original,  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  Jews  .  .  .  194 

Sincerity,  a  necessary  quality 
of  every  religion  .  .  .  .  182 

Sinners,  enemies  of  God  .  .  165 

Sins,  called  enemies  by 

David . 17 1 

-  the  two  sources  of  .  .  241 

Six  days  and  the  six  ages  of 

^  the  world . 174 

Sleep,  life  compared  to  .  .  105 

Sneezing  absorbs  all  the  facul¬ 
ties  of  the  soul  ....  31 

Society,  a  beginning  of  56 

Socrates . 218 

Solitude,  the  pleasure  of,  in¬ 
comprehensible  ....  34 

Sonnet,  a  bad,  comparison 

of . 302 

Sorbonne,  corrupted  by  the 

Jesuits . 282 

Soul,  immortality  of  the  .  4,  1 1 1 

-  is  immaterial  .  .  .  .  1 1 1 

-  how  little  she  knows 

herself . . 

Sovereign  good,  philosophers 
do  not  agree  as  to  the  .  .  112 

-  ordinary  men’s  idea  of  .  112 

Space,  numbers  imitate  .  .  84 

Spaniards . 66 

Sphere,  infinite . 19 

Spirit,  of  men  easily  disturbed  27 
Spongia  solis . 83 


360 


INDEX. 


Page 

State  of  man,  his  weakness  and 
uncertainty ;  nothing  so  im- 
portantto  man  as  his  condition  5>  6 
Stoics  ..!•••••  49 

-  what  they  propose  is 

difficult  and  idle  .  .  .  .  1 1 3 

Stream  may  decide  justice  or 

injustice . 66 

Strife  alone  pleases,  not  the 

victory . 39 

Study  of  man,  why  so  few 

undertake  it . 82 

Style,  thoughts  on  .  .  .  .  301 

- effect  a  natural,  produces, 

we  find  a  man  instead  of  an 

author . 3°3 

-  examples  of  bad  .  .  .  3°4 

Submission  of  the  reason,  only 
by  this  can  we  truly  know 

ourselves . 108,  250 

Suetonius . <  •  221 

Suicide,  advised  by  certain 

philosophers . 112 

Sun,  course  of  the  ....  84 

Suns,  the  five,  of  Mexico  .  .  118 

Superstition,  piety  compared 

with . 2SX 

Sweden,  queen  of  ...  .  75 

Sword,  the  right  of  the  .  .  67 

Symmetry,  definition  of  .  .  3°4 

Synagogues,  a  type  of  the 
Church . l7& 

Tacitus . 221 

Talmud,  its  predictions  of  the 
Messiah .  .  .  .  .  •  •  I52 

-  date  of  composition  of  .  196 

Temple,  its  reprobation  pro¬ 
phesied  by  Jeremiah  .  .  149 

Tennis . 37 

Tertullian . I27 

Testaments,  proof  of  the  two, 

at  once . .  1 57 

-  proof  that  the  Old,  is 

figurative . 1 5$ 

-  Old  and  New,  their  re¬ 
lations  . x65 

-  sacrifices  and  ceremonies 

of  Old,  either  figures  or  ab¬ 
surdities  . *74 


Page 

Thamar,  story  of  ...  .  220 

Theatre,  dangers  of  the,  for 
the  Christian  soul  .  .  .  248 

Theology,  taken  as  an  example 

of  diversity . 32 

Theresa,  Saint,  her  double 

greatness . 246 

-  what  she  was  when  alive 

and  now . 275 

Thought,  greatness  of  man 
consists  in  .....  .  46 

-  makes  man’s  being  .  .  47 

-  the  whole  dignity  of 

man  lies  in . .  •  48 

-  great  in  essence,  vile  in 

defects .  48 

Thoughts,  spring  up  by  chance  29 

- - escape  us  in  writing  .  .  29 

Tide  of  the  sea . 84 

Time,  our  imagination  enlarges 

the  present . 56 

Towns  through  which  we 

pass . 59 

Trades,  choice  of  ...  .  78 

Transmission  of  sin,  without 
this  mystery  we  could  not 
know  ourselves  ....  107 

Trent,  Council  of  .  .  .  .  291 


Truth,  there  is  no,  in  man  .  19 

- we  hate,  and  those  who 

tell  it  us . 85 

- necessity  of  seeking  .  95 


- we  know,  by  the  heart  as 

well  as  by  reason  .  .  .  102 

- is  not  within  our  reach, 

nor  to  our  taste  .  .  .  .  107 

-  we  have  ah  idea  of, 

which  scepticism  cannot 

overcome . i°9 

- has  visible  signs  .  .  .  208 

- makes  us  free  .  .  .  245 

- opposite  truth  to  be  re¬ 
membered  with  a  ...  279 

- - -  unable  to  know,  unless 

we  love  truth . 280 

- the  first  rule  and  ultimate 

end  of  things . 281 

Truths  of  religion,  necessity  of 

seeking .  3 

Turk,  the  Grand  ....  53 


INDEX. 


Page 

Turks,  their  example  alleged 
by  the  wicked  .  .  .  .  2 1 1 

- miracles  of  the  .  .  .  258 

- grand  sultan  of  the  .  80 

Twelve  tables,  law  of  the  .  121 

Types  in  general,  their  law¬ 
fulness  . 157 

-  unintelligible  to  the  Jews 

and  bad  Christians  .  .  .  158 

- understood  only  in  the 

fulness  of  time  .  .  .  .  158 

- compared  to  a  portrait  .  1 59 

- the  word  of  God  false 

literally,  true  spiritually  .  159 

- of  Old  Testament  only 

figures . 162 

- the  reason  of  .  .  .  .  162 

- of  Christ . 165 

- - -  different  kinds  of,  some 

seem  far-fetched  ....  165 

- reason  for  the  use  of  .170 

- of  Old  Testament  either 

figures  or  absurdities  .  .  174 

- made  according  to  the  truth  176 

- particular . 176 

- the  utility  of  .  .  .  .  216 

Tyranny,  in  what  it  consists  .  68 

Unbelievers,  we  should  pity 

them . 253 

- useful  for  the  glory  of 

religion . 203 

- revile  that  which  they  do 

not  understand  ....  204 

Uncertainty,  what  we  do  for  an  102 

- of  condition  of  man  .  .  23 

U nderstanding,  greatness  of 
men  of,  invisible  to  the  great  227 

Unhappiness  natural  to  man’s 
condition,  makes  him  seek 

diversion . 33 

- proof  of  man’s  ...  73 

Union  of  mind  and  body  a 
mystery  to  man  ....  28 

- of  the  Word  to  man  .  .  299 

Universe,  how  inferior  and 
superior  to  man  ....  46 

-  the  whole,  teaches  man, 

either  of  his  corruptness  or 
redemption . x92 


361 

Page 

Usurpation  of  the  whole  earth, 
beginning  and  image  of .  68 

Vacuum,  an  example  taken 
from  our  notion  of  .  .  .  54 

- absurdity  of  the  saying 

that  nature  abhors  a  .  .  313 

Vanity  of  pleasure  ....  5 

Vatable . 269,  270 

Venice,  the  Jesuits  and  .  .  283 

Vespasian,  persecution  of  .  .  127 

- miracles  of  .  .  .  .  27 1 

Vices,  why  we  are  indulgent 
to  the,  of  the  great  ...  74 

- certain,  have  hold  on  us 


only  by  means  of  others  .  77 

Victory  pleases  less  than  strife, 
why . 39 


Virgin  birth,  weakness  of  the 
argument  against  the  .  .  223 

Virtue  may  be  excessive  .  .  30 

- is  the  result  of  two  oppo¬ 
site  vices  in  counterpoise  .  30 

Vocations . 59 

War,  why  men  seek  ...  34 

- internecine,  in  man,  be¬ 
tween  the  reason  and  his 


passions . 55 

- civil,  is  the  worst  of  evils  63,  70 

- decided  by  an  interested 

party . 66 

Weakness  of  man  .  .  .  28,  66 

-  -  cause  of  so  many 

esteemed  beauties  ...  72 

-  unrest,  and  defects  of 

man . 73 


Weariness  of  Jesus  ....  232 

- inevitable  in  all  con¬ 
ditions  . 35 

- is  man’s  most  sensible 

evil  and  his  greatest  good  .  39 

- arises  from  loss  of  occupa¬ 
tion  . 4° 

Well  dressed,  not  altogether 

foolish  to  be . 7° 

Wicked,  the,  reasoning  of,  in 
the  Book  of  Wisdom  .  .  240 

- prove  the  corruption  of 

human  nature  by  their  con¬ 
duct  . 191 


362 


Wicked  who  profess  to  follow 

reason  . 

Will,  difference  between  the 
actions  of  the,  and  other 

actions . .  ■ 

- - is  depraved  in  wishing 

for  the  love  of  others 

- -  self,  we  must  renounce 

it  in  order  to  be  happy  .  . 

- - of  God,  we  should  judge 

of  what  is  good  or  bad  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  .... 

-  one  of  the  principal 

organs  of  belief  .... 
Wine,  too  much  and  too  little 
Wisdom,  greatness  of,  invisible 

to  the  carnal . 

. - God  alone  gives  .  .  . 

Words,  meaning  changes  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  .... 


INDEX. 


Page 

Page 

World,  vanity  of  the  .  .  . 

48 

21 1 

-  judges  things  rightly  . 

83 

129 

avoids  thinking  of  what 
it  does  not  choose  to  think 
about  . 

102 

239 

indicates  the  presence  of 
a  God  who  hides  himself  . 

209 

24O 

would  not  exist  without 
Jesus  Christ . 

226 

- difference  in  living  ac- 

cording  to  the,  and  to  God . 

248 

244 

is  full  of  good  maxims, 

307 

we  only  need  their  right 
application . 

3H 

29 

Worshippers,  unknown 

280 

Worthlessness  of  man  .  .  . 

13 

227 

243 

Xerxes . 

144 

129 

Zeal  of  the  fewish  people 

122 

CHISWICK  PRESS  :-C.  WHI TTINGHA M  AND  CO.,  TOOKS  COURT, 

CHANCERY  LANE. 


. 


: . 


